Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy - Temptations
by Demod20
Summary: Jaden Korr's life forever changed, one fateful day, when she heard something whisper for her to come find it. After using her latent ability of machinery had led her to constructing a lightsaber she is urged to go get training and become a Jedi to see the wider galaxy beyond her isolated home. But what adventures and horrors lie in wait, none can say for her fate is hers to decide!
1. Chapter 1 - Whispers

It was in the quiet moments that Jaden Korr dwelled in with fondness.

In the darkness of her hovel home in the lower reaches of Coruscant, where light was scarcer than it was on the upper levels and darkness was far more plentiful -along with basic amenities-, she cherished the times where the noisy residential block was far more devoid of sound. It was why she made her personal bedroom, a plasteel dome within a haphazardly constructed slab of permacrete and ferrocrete that housed three dozen more residents of various backgrounds and races, as sound proof as possible. Here she did everything apart from using the bathroom and washing up: Eating, reading, writing, sketching, tinkering, thinking and fixing.

Beyond what people knew of her, she was a fixer-upper. Always had, for as long as she could remember, been fluent in finding the root of a problem in machines and finding new ways to repair them better than before. Even when she was cared for by something that passed as a paternal guardian she was able to take apart a holo-recorder and fathom its make-up before putting it back together, better than it once was. She didn't show off this talent of mechanical fidgeting until she became alone at the age of twelve, and then, anyone who'd want to cut back on an expensive tune-up or wish to have an affordable mechanic, would call her up.

Jaden soon became a name of familiarity and adoration among her tightly knit community. It was thanks to her that living conditions improved, even by a little, where it was just barely passable. The Empire never noticed people down this far in the planet and even when the rumbling of rebellion had occurred, she and her community continued to prosper more and more as time went on.

Her jobs soon became more and more complex as she got older. The human machinist would soon be asked to do more distant tasks and deliver items of important worth farther and farther from the complex. By the age of fifteen, she was starting to go just about the second and third levels of the planet, marketing herself off as a mechanical savant, capable of fathoming machines of all kinds, even those she never seen before. Taught by those in the community to avoid saying this to those of Imperial interest, she kept from taking too many risks that'd get her or her home in trouble over the course of time.

Then, one day, something changed.

It started, long ago, with the destruction of the hierarchy ruling over her head, the Emperor, and his shadowy enforcer known simply as Vader. Warlords, strategists and the like struggled to maintain power but an all-out revolt was happening in the upper levels against the ruling class of the skylines. Beyond an influx of business, this meant she'd stick to the lower areas, and keep to herself along with the community. They'd have to board up, and hold out for weeks at one point, scrounging for supplies and resorting to stealing just to ensure they wouldn't starve or go without proper water.

The most miserable month ended when, on her sixteenth birthday, the battle to end all battles took place.

A fierce shaking had taken place above her head, a partition of another level lacerated through their own, cutting apart the majority of it along with what seemed to be layers of durasteel that had held up part of a superstructure at the top level. Among those that lived near her miraculously unscathed community, thousands had perished in the residential block and hundreds of thousands more from the carnage wreaked from above. She'd later find out much later that the death toll was in the millions in the crossfire, as the Empire had begun bombing its own planet to delay an enemy she'd remember as the New Republic.

The lower levels was wreathed in a near permanent bog of smoke, with some areas becoming completely inhospitable. The need for respirators was great in her own community and she crafted as many as she could, teaching anybody that could understand it to lessen the burden. People still died of smoke inhalation, and with a lack of medical supplies, it was impossible to care for those that suffered.

Shrapnel rain became a common problem they couldn't hope to counter. Nearly a dozen people she knew for years were torn apart by wearing and tearing spikes of the metal overhanging ceiling they lived under. Annihilation seemed to be her future and she couldn't help but become more attached to her ineffective cocoon of plasteel within her home. Anxiety was a common state of being, as Jaden feared leaving both her place of living or those she knew in effect dooming them to die without even seeing it herself.

Weeks later, the shrapnel ceased coming down, and a brave ensemble of rescuers came from above to the effected places. They wore the banners of the New Republic, explaining the overthrow to those who had no idea a change of factions had occurred. As a prerogative of the new leaders, as per commission by Leia Organa herself, the Republic's efforts to lend aid to the affected Coruscanti citizens and salvage anything that could be used to remodel the less well off people that were now of the Republic.

It was a relief to the community, but Jaden was shaken from the horrible events. She'd have that innate fear of a sudden death to loved ones or herself by an inexplicable, unpredictable action outside of her control. Her eagerness to explore was suppressed by this morbid cloud that hung over her, like a black cloth that was wet of blood on her shoulders, reminding her of that horrible month of the Siege of Coruscant.

Then, something whispered to her in her hovel. She couldn't quite place it, like an undecipherable language that was breathing along her scalp. It breathed over her when she awoke and she'd feel goosebumps. It was calling her somewhere, and she didn't know why, but she felt compelled to find out the source.

In the middle of the night, she finally ventured out, equipping a respirator when she left outside. While her community's home was reinforced and in far better shape than it had been in years, it still had problems with smoke-filled winds occasionally blowing over their area. Treading carefully, she'd find it emanated from the sunken pit, where the upper level had dragged a larger building down below. With hesitation, she scaled below as far as she could, then finding the voice stop at what looked like a tunnel that was adjoined with the severing void that constantly churned a thick smoke upwards.

Crawling in what she assumed was a ventilation shaft, she saw something glow at the end. Scurrying quickly, she found what she could only describe as the most rare thing she had ever encountered. The whispers quieted in her mind as her hands delicately picked it out of the groove of metal it had sunk into, retrieving it to shine with an ethereal shine of white light before her enamored eyes.

"Beautiful," She whispered, and as if in a trance, she rubbed her fingers over it as it gave off a gentle warmth that was beyond that what machines could produce.

* * *

Returning to her home, she began to take what parts she had in her private shell of a resting place to produce a casing worthy of containing this luminous gem. As her hands busied with a feverish intensity, the jewel itself seemed all she could think about. Dreaming of its voice as it soothed her scarred mind and tenderly washed over her scarred spirit, her vigor was renewed with every waking day.

It was something that the neighbors began to notice. First, they reported some strange things happening around the complex, like objects moving at random in the middle of the night, or seeing her leave in what they described as sleep walking. When one of her closest friends, a Rodian boy named Meelik, tried his best to prod her out she told him he was busy.

"On what?" He asked, when suddenly a brilliant shine radiated from the cracks of her plasteel dome.

"Meelik! Come see this!" She squealed with giddy joy.

As one part of the dome folded down, the ten by ten meter dome revealed a glow not by the natural battery powered lights she usually stored within. There, before his bug-like eyes, was a rod of light that thrummed with a buzzing intensity from a cylinder crafted by materials she no doubt had possessed or had gathered during the nights he and the others recalled her leaving in a trance before returning hours later. It was a beautiful design, and shined with a brilliant silver light that was peerless in both its rays as its integrity of shape.

"What is it?" Meelik asked, never seeing something of its kind before in his life.

"I think its...a lightsaber," She spoke slowly, as if dredging up memories she had read about. "It's probably one of those laser swords that the Jedi up top used to have. Back when they were, well, around."

"Maybe the New Republic has some of those," Meelik mumbled out, still captivated by the light-wielding weapon. Then, as if a thought just occurred to him, he shook his head and stared with an oblong expression. "Wait a minute, Jaden! How did you build one?!"

"Build this?" Jaden inquired back, waving it offhandedly, much to Meelik's dismay.

"Yes, that! Are you secretly a Jedi?"

"Pfffft, no!" She sputtered out, snorting out a laugh as she looked back at her majestic new creation. "I just made this on my own. I think I'd know if I was a Jedi before this."

"Really? Was there a blueprint you pawned off somebody? Exchanged it for a trade?" He interrogated.

"No-No-No!" Jaden insisted with an urging stroke of her weapon, accidentally gouging a hole in her dome. "Ah, holo-dust!"

Switching the saber off, she reached into a proximate box and pulled out what looked like a propellant of sorts, spraying it over the hole and doused it with small ice crystals of sorts to put out the embers of flames she made in her hovel. Putting on a respirator, she began to fix the hole with a groan, noticing her friend hadn't left yet. He put his arms over his chest and gave her a look, causing her to roll her eyes, pulling off the respirator from her face and tossing it over her shoulder into the tool box.

"Don't laugh," She urged.

"After what I've seen, I doubt what you'd say would make me laugh," Meelik deadpanned, gesturing with his spindly fingers. "Go on. Tell me how you did it."

Sighing, she held the saber in hand and admired her handiwork. Its handle was made out of a blaster pistol that had worn out its use, with a ovular flare to the bottom where the power cell was injected, the pommel capped by a reinforcement cap found in a downed air taxi's engine. Up the handle was leather she had found in her tool box, smoothing and refining it so it was comfortable to hold with ridges to make it easier for her fingers or palm to hold. The blade's emitter was made of a trio of focusing discs, the third of which bowled out by several inches, enabling the rod of light to be altered in size and composition to her liking.

"In my dreams," She almost muttered out, her eyes averting from looking at Meelik.

"No, seriously," The Rodian boy snarked. "Did you do Death Sticks or something?"

"I told you don't laugh!" Jaden blurted out, her face a beet red as she looked over at Meelik with indignation. "And I AM serious!"

"Oh," Meelik stopped short, seeing her friend look almost angry at him in a way he hadn't seen in awhile. Lamely reaching behind his head, his attennae twitched around as he thought a little; mostly out loud, as he tended to do. "I mean, it makes sense, I suppose. In a weird way this makes all those weird night walks you've been doing add up. That and you've been cooped up in your safety bubble-"

"It's my _Peace Dome_ , thank you," Jaden insisted with an indignant tut of her tongue.

"And things were starting to move in and around the complex, so people were getting spooked."

"They were?!" The teenager asked with mortification, her face paling and her eyes widening at the implication of being somehow responsible.

"Jaden," Meelik intoned levelly, his obtuse lips speaking as succinctly as he could. "I think you should go get trained."

"What? Be a Jedi?" Jaden smiled wryly, almost looking doubtfully at Meelik with a tilt of her head.

"Why not? I mean, for the longest time I remember you wanting to find out how the big starships work, let alone just get out of a worn down place like this," He implored, his hands waving with emphasis. "It'll be good for you, trust me."

"But," She bit her lip, her eyes looking away as her hands now grasped her saber in hand, letting it rattle nervously in her shaking grip. "I'm still...scared. What if something happens to me out there? What if something happens to you, or-"

"Jaden Korr," Meelik spoke seriously, his spindly fingers now wrapped around her shoulders, gently shaking her to bring her eyes to look back at him. There, she saw her silver eyes and her dirtied platinum hair reflected off his nearly opaque, lidless orbs. Even as her eyes watered, her own lips quivering, she heard his words encourage her even as sadness was gripping her from the inside. "You don't belong in this little place, when there is a big world out there waiting for you. I'm thankful to have known you, being one of the only people my age I can talk to, let alone share my own passions with and your weird little tinkering. I promise you, I'll stay here, regardless if you leave or not; but I'll be sad if you never do anything with your life when you've got such a great gift just waiting to be shared with the galaxy."

Jaden felt her heart pang. This was the most considerate that her friend has been. While she always considered the community family, it was only in the harmony in how she shared her talents so freely and deliberately to those who saw her as useful or gifted in how she helped them out. Meelik never asked for anything other than her time and company, her feelings and thoughts, with her emotions shared between the Rodian and herself. He was a true friend, in every sense of the word, and she loved that he was telling her to go.

It still didn't make it any less painful to leave the only place she called home behind.

Reaching out with her arms, she embraced her friend in a tight hug, blinking back tears as a sad smile spread on her face. Lightsaber still in hand, she pulled away reluctantly, she sniffled as she looked Meelik in the eyes and whispered lowly, "Thank you."

"You can thank me by helping me pack your things," The Rodian nodded to her, pointing to her haphazard mess of a dwelling. "And probably clean up so it doesn't look so bad when you come back to visit."

"Ah, if I can, yeah definitely," She nodded shakily, laughing at the disorder she made. "I have really let this place go, haven't I?"

"It matches the rest of this place, frankly," He snorted.

"I'm a mess too!" She noted, running fingers through her hair and seeing nothing but blotches of oil and other junk bunched up on her clothing. "I'll need to buy better clothes. And a bag for my stuff. Probably should save some on food too, in case I need to make several stops."

"Let's worry about that," He motioned to the aforementioned clutter around her with a vibrating chuckle his kind was known for, " _after_ we clean up, no?"

"Yes, let's," She nodded with affirmation, clenching her newly minted weapon in hand as she picked scraps and linen lying around her bedroll. As she tidied the place up, she couldn't help but ponder just why she was called to the crystal or why she was able to make a weapon whose instructions were void and a teacher was absent in instructing it. And the dreams that circled that precious gem, which stretched to the renewed affection she had with this crafted laser sword that she constructed to help deal with her own anxiousness and emotional scarring.

Whatever the case may be, her life as she knew it was becoming more complicated than she dreamed and feared it'd be.

* * *

Inquiring the Republic aide that oversaw restoration efforts on her level not more than the following morning, communication was quickly carried to those operating in efforts of contacting anybody who knew of the Jedi. Hearing back within several hours, Jaden was told that she wasn't the only one who was asking as scouting for prospective Force sensitives had been an ongoing mission for the New Jedi Order, currently heralded by one of the New Republic's most famous heroes.

Spending the next day shopping at relatively nicer places closer to the surface for clothing, taking a few hours at a cleansing spring to spruce her dirtied self and finally purchasing a ticket to meet at a rendezvous point for selected candidates to meet. On the day of departure, she brought Meelik with him to see her off, much to his protest. Stopping at the inevitable transport due for the station, she turned to see him off.

"Well," She began to say, her voice becoming a big thick with emotion. "This is it."

"Yeah," Meelik murmured out, feeling uncomfortable to say goodbye in a place far from home. The air here was far more clean, and the sky had a shine to it that the Sun Coruscant orbited gave off a warmth he never felt down below. He saw that the slew of species never changed on the surface, but the dress was far better kempt, and people seemed far more friendlier than those of the other levels below. Still, as the Coruscant System's Sun -Coruscant Prime- shined pleasantly, he couldn't help but admire how brave his friend was. "You sure you're up for this?"

"Hey, aren't you the one who talked me into going?" She joked with a chuckle.

"Yeah, but look at you! I barely recognize ya from before," The Rodian youth exemplified with waving arms, gesturing to her with a complimentary squee his race apparently could make. It embarrassed her, but she smiled past the flush on her face. "I'm sure you'll knock the socks off anybody who looks your way."

"Is that a Jedi thing to do?" Jaden asked, taking time to look down at herself. As far as being on a budget went, she did think she dressed more regally than she ever dreamt of. A black linen with silvery threaded outlines was woven into her sleeveless robed top, complete with a hood that was unfastened and hidden by her large dark green duffel bag she strung over her shoulders. Finger-less gloves of leather make that gleamed in the Sunlight gripped at the straps to her pack, her hips wiggling in place to make the kama skirt of similar black and grey outline swish around her more dark grey bottoms, her feet placed inside all-terrain plasteel reinforced boots. Her belt presiding above her skirt was her prized possession, the lightsaber she lovingly crafted for nearly a month of persistent care and attention.

Even her complexion shone better in the planet's Sunshine. An alabaster hue with the slightest bit of rosy hue around her face, matching the crystalline quality of her silver eyes and platinum colored hair. Her Echani heritage was unknown due to her estranged childhood, but deciphered by those of otherworldly knowledge in her community she always stood out, even among the lower levels where soot and dust was a'plenty. Licking her peach lips, she batted her eyes with uncertainty as her emotions began to take hold of her throat once more.

"ALL PASSENGERS OF TRANSPORT ZX4005, PLEASE BOARD NOW!"

"That's you!" Meelik insisted with glee, practically shoving her around to the transport.

"I-I'm having second thoughts, M-Meelik," She stuttered out as the ship grew nearer and the bodies became fewer to bar her path.

"That's why I'm here," The Rodian snorted with a loud toot. "Go on!"

"B-But-!"

"Go before I call dock security to throw you in!"

"Not fair, Meelik!" Jaden cried out, finally stumbling up to the transports stairs. Stopping at the top stair, she turned around and began to wave unabashed, much to the flight attendant's chagrin on the inside. Tears flowed down her face as a broad smile stretched her face, her eyes catching sight of Meelik's own enthusiastic waves of his spindly fingers on the platform. "I'll come back to visit, Meelik! I promise!"

"GO, JADEN KORR! BECOME A JEDI AND SEE THE GALAXY!" The Rodian bellowed out loud, drawing many looks but he cast his cares into the open wind of the transport's propulsors. "AND BRING BACK SOUVENIRS!"

"You got it!" She cried out, finally ducking back inside, letting the stairs retract upwards and seal her inside. Rushing to her assigned seat, she pressed her face against, smudging her head against the window to see the Rodian youth brace himself as the ship rose up with her inside. Even as the lump of emotion made her softly sob, she felt a ping of curiosity surface in her head. Looking up and around the shape of the vessel, she marveled on its craft and design, being more sophisticated than any open-air speeder that was used for transportation.

She knew Meelik was right. The galaxy was a big place and her curious mind yearned to see how it all worked. Reaching for her lightsaber, she brushed her fingers affectionately against it and began to caress its smooth discs and the leather wrapped handle. Her silver eyes soon closed and the whispers urged her into unconsciousness, just before her transport jumped into hyperspace.

Her journey, as she'd know it, has just begun.

* * *

 **A/N:** So I wrote this very late at night (or early in the morning, if you want to be technical) because I was in a very Star Wars mood. I produced a One Shot of Luke entering Jabba's Palace in a way I'd like (I Am A Jedi, look it up if you're interested) and I didn't feel quite satisfied. So, one thing led to another and after talking to a friend, I began writing this little bit.

At first I wasn't satisfied with the summary backstory I was writing, but I like giving a broad picture of a character so I won't bog down details in a Flashback later. Plus, a typical text crawl is what usually dissects a story's plot, so I think this isn't too far off the mark. Regardless I felt a surprising amount of catharsis for this Character. Like, I hadn't anticipated making her so vulnerable, let alone fun just to write in general. I guess memories of the good old days of the books I've read of Star Wars brought back the basics of what makes characterization so much fun in a text format.

This was also my opportunity to give clarity to how Jaden built her lightsaber. That was my favorite section to be honest. And her being a tinkerer opens the door to a lot of possibilities in the narrative. That and the weird voices circling the crystal she found. What can it mean? Things to think about I suppose.

See you guys in the next update. I'll try to be quick about it as I do have quite a few other projects weighing on me. Either way, I'll get to it when I can. Hope you all enjoyed it!


	2. Chapter 2 - Unplanned Altercations

The rendezvous wasn't what she had expected, upon arrival.

Apparently, as the flight attendant explained when she awakened in mid-flight, the situation was that a number of prospective candidates were selected across New Republic controlled territory. They were found either through Jedi searching for them in scouting for those possibly gifted in the Force, individuals reported to have the Force -like herself- or through sheer coincidence in a mission the Republic had embarked on.

The flight was uneventful, but to her that itself was a trip worth noting. When she wasn't asleep, she was interrogating any personnel in arm's reach how any of the tech functioned and what was powering the vessel. Withdrawing a freshly purchased holo-pad, she jot down all of the details to remember for later in case she got the opportunity to observe it at a later time or use it for references. She even went as far as exploring the cockpit and engine room; kindly removed, of course, but she still got to look at them for a few minutes.

She apparently was the only one going for that express purpose. The location was a trading outpost placed along a trading route along the same line, so it made sense that this public transport could be used to ferret her to her eventual meeting place. She wondered what the other Force sensitives could be like? She herself didn't display an overtly visible connection beyond her connection to the jewel housed within her lightsaber, but that in of itself seemed surprising enough that she was encouraged to leave.

Her friend Meelik, the community in the residential level, and even those she ran errands for lingered in her thoughts. Whenever she was awake, the memories she shared and the trauma she endured through the Siege of Coruscant left a lasting impact on her psyche she wondered if she'd ever move past from. The only thing that comforted her was the whispers that coerced her into finding that beautiful crystal, down in the pit, and set her down this path she was now moving along.

Whether this was a good idea or not remained to be seen.

Just as she was about to be lulled back to sleep, the blue streams of light produced by hyperspace suddenly jolted back into a starry backdrop. Blinking with realization, she heard a voice in the overhead speakers announce their arrival to the rest of the passengers. Pushing her face against the smudged window, her eyes looked on with awe and she looked at what seemed to be a space station orbiting a gouged planetoid, currently sparking of orange glow where mining no doubt took place. The station itself was shaped like a spire with several interconnecting rings that rotated in opposite directions, glistening with lights of various kinds.

As the transport entered one of the orbiting rings through a vacuum force shield, she'd notice a pair of white helmeted individuals with black markers on the fronts waiting near where they'd be landing. She had a feeling they were waiting for her, given she was specifically told to take a normal transit as a means of grouping up with the other Force Sensitives. Grabbing the straps of her duffel bag, she slung it over her shoulders and awkwardly waited in line to exit the transport.

Reaching the exit, she had to delicately fold her upper body to her knees to let the six and a half foot tall bag breach the top of the lowered stair-ramp. Walking forward with a grimacing expression, she looked up at the pair of helmeted men as they looked at her with amusement. One was an older gentleman with a crimson striped leather jacket wrapped over a blue shirt that matched his pants down to his black boots. The other was a younger man, presumably the older man's subordinate, who had a black vest over his own long-sleeved blue shirt with a similar designed uniform to the man beside him.

"Are you Jaden Korr?" The older man asked in a straightforward incline of his head.

Taking the last step with a huff, she raised herself to her full height to look up at him. While she wasn't the shortest person she knew at the residential block she lived in, the man that inquired her identity was easily a head and a half taller than her mere five foot eight inches. The other man was only half a foot higher in height, so she felt less overwhelmed by him and more to the man in charge.

Tentatively, she nodded, responding nervously, "Y-Yes...sir?"

"Captain Hol'Dak," He answered her unspoken question, now grinning warmly in a way a grandfather would. His graying hair and light blue eyes shone an expression she could tell he was a trustworthy sort, hence his presence here. Gesturing with his head at the man beside him, he introduced the other helmeted individual promptly. "This is Officer Jensen, my second in command. We're not a big crew but we'll get the job done in getting you lot to where you need to go."

"Nice to meet you," Jaden bowed her head respectfully, trying to keep a somewhat stoic composure. Looking between them, she blinked awkwardly, batting her lashes with turns of her eyes with hesitation.

"Yes, what is it?" Captain Hol'Dak inquired.

"I-I don't mean to be rude but...how much farther is it?" The Coruscanti nearly whispered in curiosity.

"If I may ask in return," The Captain began, getting an affirming nod as her face turned to face him fully. "Are you in a hurry?"

"Oh no!" She shook her head with insistence, a bit of a bright grin emerging on her face. "That's not it at all! I've just never traveled before, that's all!"

"Never?" Jensen balked.

"Never," She acknowledged with a firm nod.

"Whoa! Man for somebody that closed off from the galaxy, no wonder you're Jedi material-!"

"Officer Jensen!" Hol'Dak snapped, causing both of them to jump. His warm visage had construed into an angry one, visually indicating displeasure from the wayward remark made by his subordinate. "If you got time to make such insightful observations, why don't you give the young lady a hand with her bag?"

"U-Uh, r-right!" He stuttered out, mumbling a nearly unheard apology in between looking between her and his superior. Reaching out with his hands, she recoiled with a step back, lurching her pack just out of his hands. Giving her a mixed expression, he looked back with disdain at his Captain whom only sighed, returning his attention back to her.

"Don't worry about your stuff, Miss Korr. I assure you, you'll get your things back when we arrive."

"I-I prefer to hold onto it," Jaden insisted with a visible nervous twitch, her eyes darting between the two warily. "This is all I have left of my home."

"Isn't the Academy going to be your new home?"

"Officer Jensen!"

"S-Sorry, sir! I'm just asking an honest question!" Jensen gestured defensively with his louder-than-necessary voice.

"I brought you out here with me to be helpful, not cause duress," Hol'Dak barked, placing his hands on his hips and gesturing with his head over his left shoulder. "Get back to the shuttle. I'll take it from here."

Looking a bit defenseless, the man finally relented with a visible sag before marching dutifully away from the two.

Once he was out of earshot, the Captain looked over with sadness in his eyes, "I apologize, Miss Korr. Jensen's good at what he does, he's just got a bit of an attitude problem I'm trying to correct. Hope you can move past it."

"I'm just waiting on that question I asked you," Jaden honestly chirped out, her demeanor returning to normalcy after seeing her personal things weren't threatened.

"Walk with me," Hol'Dak intoned, gesturing her to follow him as they'd walk away from the docked transport across a series of parked vessels. They came in all sizes for her to gawk and admire: rotund mining ships, narrow fighters, bulky freighters, even some more customized creations she hadn't ever seen in the Coruscant Air Traffic near her home.

"Due to the desire of discretion to keep the wrong people from finding out about this entourage of ours, we coordinated our best efforts to make this our only stop before heading to the Academy," The Captain briefed her, taking a few moments to look at her taking wide-eyed stares at the assortment of spaceships surrounding her. Grinning wryly, he continued without pause, not bothering to correct her childish wonderment of the new sights she was experiencing. "Our shuttle will make a single jump straight to our contacts at our destination, Yavin IV, where the Academy is based at now."

"What's it like?" The silver-eyed teenager inquired.

"The Academy? I don't know much beyond it used to be the former Rebel Alliance's headquarters. It's been emptied long since then, retrofitted to be of a lot more use to the New Jedi Order," He described, looking to her as she took in the details with far more attention to what he was saying. Grinning, he then asked her. "Have you ever seen a jungle?"

"Outside of a few books I've salvaged, I've never seen anything outside of my home in Coruscant," She admitted freely. "Isn't a jungle like a kind of rain forest?"

"Pretty much the same," He nodded. "Though its not exactly the safest place to be outside of the Academy grounds. Dangerous beasts and pirates tend to camp out in the thicker holds we haven't laid claim to. Heard some other rumors about it, but I don't buy into the Force stuff as much as you people do."

"I don't know much about it myself, to be honest," She confessed, though this time with a bit of shame. The platinum haired girl was almost eighteen years of age, and apart from her creation of a lightsaber -a feat too many people think was incredible for her liking- she hadn't really got 'in touch' with the Force. She had strange, peaceful dreams that spoke to her whispers that felt connected to the gem she found in the pit; the crystal that served as the heart for her weapon. Apart from that, she hadn't the faintest clue how this was supposed to work or if she had any real potential beyond being really good with machines.

"Well, we'll see when you get there, now won't we?" Hol'Dak reassured her with a grin. Looking ahead, he waved on at what she could see was a pair of men in similar uniforms to Jensen, standing guard with blasters holstered on their hips. Seeing their Captain, they gave salutes as they approached, both of them looking to Jaden with renewed interest. Saluting them back, he returned to his gruff commanding spirit that he used to rein in his lieutenant. "At ease. Are our passengers getting along with each other?"

"Everyone seems pretty eager to get going, sir," The crewmate to their left answered honestly. "But apart from being antsy, everyone's good to go when you're ready."

"Excellent," The Captain nodded, accepting the report as adequate. Eyeing the crewmate to the right, he waved off his visible attempt to offer a hand with her bag to which he backed off without a word. Giving a brief look to the last expecting passenger, he raised a brow as she gave a sweep of her eyes over the shape and length of the craft. Chuckling, he thumbed at it, asking with humor. "Like what you see?"

"Oh yes!" She exclaimed, turning with a pair of brilliant glimmering gems for eyes. "This is a Corellian Shuttle, right?! The Harkness Class with an extra layer of armor to make up for shielding, is that right?"

"Ha! This is a Harkness Class Shuttle, you are right on the money," Captain Hol'Dak exclaimed with great amusement. "Were you a pilot by any chance?"

"Oh never!" She waved dismissively, though continued to regale with great enjoyment. "I just have seen some wrecks or malfunctioned ships in my time where I grew up. It's fascinating what you figure out when you take the time to disassemble and reassemble things that you assume are broken for good."

"Well, hopefully you don't take apart this one. I need it in working order both there and back," The Captain joked, layering with a half serious statement that Jaden couldn't detect.

"But I can take it apart later, right?" She asked with a waggle of her eyebrows.

"Get in there before I change my mind, you grease monkey-lizard!" The Captain barked.

"Y-Yessir!" She answered with haste, finally climbing in with a scurry of her feet. Ducking just before the pack would hit the top of the ramp, she saw that other white helmeted men were seated adjacent to either flank from the lowered ramp itself. Looking behind her, she saw where the passengers presided and the cockpit bearing straight ahead. Hesitantly, she turned away from the pilot cabin, and silently told herself, "Later, you'll share your secrets with me."

* * *

Jaden had thankfully entered without drawing too many eyes. Unlike the dutifully rigid New Republic navy men, the passengers -aka, the Force Sensitives- were all about making themselves comfortable. Some were standing, talking among themselves in the spacious middle of the ship, not far from where the crew were stationed by the landing ramp. Others were seated next or near each other in opposite seats that numbered up to nearly six, three for the starboard and port sides.

She took the starboard side, her hefty bag leaning next to where a window normally was. Due to the flight being only a couple of hours, she felt as if she fell asleep, she might embarrass herself upon arrival. Forcing herself to sit still, she tried to keep to herself and drown out the noise of everyone's conversations. Instead she focused to the melodic thrum of the ship's smooth hyperdrive at work, its sound an orchestra of mechanical marvel at work through the faint vibrations she could tell just from her seat. Closing her eyes, she tried to imitate the sound by humming, bringing a small amount of comfort while taking this journey to the Academy.

Before she knew it, a familiar jolt ever-so slightly rocked the ship -the subtle sign of a personal gravity at odds with the change of normal flight speed and hyperspeed- and she had her eyes open seconds later. A mere two minutes later, Jensen's voice neutrally announced their arrival would transpire in an ambiguous amount of minutes. Her heart began to beat a little quicker, her eyes staring at her lap as she reached for her belt for her most prized possession. Rubbing it in hand, she felt whispers caress her mind, soothing her back to a calming state as her eyes began to close again.

"That'll be so great!"

Until a very loud voice made itself known to her left. Jolting to the present, she blinked and turned to look at the source, only to lurch back as a face entered her personal space.

"Didn't you hear?!" A rosy-faced, fair skinned human cried out with incredulity. "We're about to become Jedi!"

"Yeah?" Jaden humored him with a half-smile, righting herself upright as he backed up to his own seat. "You seem pretty excited about that."

"Why wouldn't I?!" He cried out with an unabashed swing of his arms, slamming his palms onto his knees and gushing with a turn of his head back her way. "Learning the ways of the Force! Building a Lightsaber-"

He cut himself off as his eyes looked down at her side. The design itself was irrelevant, but the shape and how it was held on her belt that he managed to put two and two together. Chuckling nervously, he added with less volume, "Though you already have one, haha! I'm probably going to be stuck with one of those stupid training sabers-"

"They have those?" She briefly said, earning a strange look from the young man, only for her to quickly shift her eyes to the side and assure him with a gesture of her right hand. "I mean, I wouldn't worry about that. It shouldn't take too long before you make one of your own, right?"

"Aw I can't help it!" He turned away, his hands gripping his knees as his feet tapped nervously upon the floor in enunciation of his anxiousness. "I wanna make a good impression. Me coming in with just my 'gift' isn't going to be nearly as impressive as showing up with my own lightsaber, ya know?"

"You seem really nervous," Jaden pointed out with a smile.

"I mean, aren't you?" He asked, suddenly hopping over to her side again -thus causing her to scooch nervously against her seat towards the ship's wall- as he emphasized with emphatic waves of his hands. "I mean, why would you be? Haha, you're probably way ahead of me, having built your own lightsaber and all," He chuckled, seeming to smooth his talk as a means of getting more informative with her. As if to seize the opportunity, the man introduced himself with an outstretched hand, asking with a tooth-spread grin. "I'm Rosh, by the way."

Jaden felt tense. This man was a lot closer to her than she was admittedly comfortable with. There was a reason she preferred solitude within such a crowded residential block and he was treading into a space that was only reserved for an exceptional few; one of which stayed behind on Coruscant.

In her periphery, she licked her lips as she took in the details of this impressionable teenager. He had the sides of his head shaven, the top of it in a stylized spiky top of raven hair, complementing the pair of amber colored eyes that looked at her expectantly. His body wasn't too different from hers, proportionately, perhaps a bit taller and a bit more lean of muscle behind his clothes. He wore what looked like an orange hued vest of some durable fabric with a cream colored cloth layered over his shoulders on his back and front. His pants had a similar style of coloring, while his arms had sleeves of an undershirt of black, ending at a pair of brown external wrappings that bound around his fingers at the knuckles, leaving them free to be exposed to the air. His own boots were a brown color as well, being more cloth than her own plasteel plated boots she wore on her own feet.

Withdrawing his hand nervously, Rosh muttered out awkwardly, "Ummm...what's your name?"

Sighing, she turned her white braided head to look at him, her silver eyes fixing on his as she responded as politely as she could, "Jaden."

"So, how did you build that lightsaber?" He bluntly asked.

Rolling her eyes, she murmured aloud, "It's a long story. If you must know, I began making it when I found myself in a-"

Thunder.

That's what it felt like when a sudden seismic shift shook the whole of the vessel. Tilting over, the transport rocked people who were standing off their feet, stumbling about and rocking those who were seated. Admittedly, Jaden herself wasn't in much of a better position to be braced as she felt her shoulders and back smash into the plating next to her substantially sized pack.

Followed up with Rosh's own form somersaulting unintentionally into her.

"HOLD ON!" Jensen cried out, as the crewmates themselves were barely restrained by their safety harnesses.

The internal gravity of the ship was compromised, forcing everyone inside to feel the violent shaking and twisting motion made by the ship's pilot. Shouts echoed in her ears, Rosh's cries especially prevalent and all those that surrounded her was just a bunch of noise that rattled her banging head. Clenching her eyes, gritting her teeth, she slung an arm through her pack and grabbed a hold of Rosh with one arm to hold him tightly. Her other hand reached for her belt latched saber, trying to seek a deeper aid within the gem other than comfort from the sound.

She needed more than peace. She needed protection. She needed the Force.

"G-GAK!" Rosh began to howl out, the sound of metal shearing with impact of an outside disturbance.

"Hold on, Rosh!" Jaden felt herself cry out, her eyes clenched shut as the whole world around her twisted and flashed in a disorienting pull.

* * *

A shadowy figure lowered a forked stave from the sky, its hold over the weapon thrumming with a black majesty only it could comprehend. Standing atop of its platform, it commanded a power far beyond its comprehension. It was still fathoming the depths of energy it could pull at and use at a given moment, just with sheer impulse. It knew it easily could have used this power to reduce the vessel that was descending into Yavin IV's atmosphere into dust, but that wouldn't manipulate events as it wished.

It had other plans. Much grander plans.

* * *

"Captain Hol'Dak, respond!" A gloved hand held a communicator no bigger than a thumb up to his mouth.

" _Ah! I'm here, Master Skywalker. Rattled back from Hell and here, but alive, somehow,_ " A familiar voice sparked through the static of his device.

"We saw your ship going down. Is everyone alright?" The Grandmaster of the Order inquired with worry in his voice.

" _We took a head count. Apart from a couple who were thrown from the crash site, everyone seems to be in one piece. Relatively speaking_ ," He added with weariness over the line. _  
_

Walking around a corner, Luke furrowed his brows, pursing his lips firmly as he pondered. This sudden accident felt too well timed, off even. While he couldn't confirm what he was feeling, the Jedi Master shook his head and continued to walk on, unaware of a silhouette of concealed motion scurrying not but a dozen meters away from him.

"We'll send a shuttle to pick you and the students up. Can you lead them to the nearby Massassi Temple?" Luke asked with haste.

"Affirmative, Master Jedi. I'll meet you there," The Captain responded, cutting off his communication.

As Luke endeavored to send Jedi from the Academy to look for the remaining pair -alive or dead- the aforementioned silhouette maneuvered into a particular room with a lauded database. It was normally a locked room, adjacent to Luke's quarters, but had been left unattended due to the recent events. With a holo-pad in hand, the intruder searched swiftly for what it desired before acquiring the specs and targets it needed. A concealed smile was had before it flew off like it was riding the air, and silently left.

For the moment, leaving none the wiser.

* * *

"Unnnnnngh," Jaden groaned, her consciousness slowly coming to as the ringing began to fade from her ears. She had saw nothing but a flash of light, the smell of ozone and the acrid stench of smoke. Combined with the sudden irregular momentum that sent them hurtling out of a torn partition of the shuttle, she found her bearings as she stared up at a blue sky with passing white clouds and a beaming Sun with a looming gas giant in plain view right next to it. The tops of trees surrounded her visual scope, the canopy of which had been severed thanks to their impromptu arrival.

Gingerly, she pushed herself upright and slowly took in the environment. Rushing stream of water, the smell of vegetation and the sound of animals croaking or squawking around her head. Absorbing the scenery in, it didn't take long for the starboard tilted shuttle to take precedence. Standing upright, she stumbled over a few steps to see what looked like their ship, smashed especially hard where she and Rosh were seated; a place that might've been their tomb, had she not miraculously flown out of the starship and out into this clearing of the jungle.

"Hey!"

"Rosh?!" Jaden cried out, turning around to see him, standing atop of a cliff of considerable altitude by the rushing brook that led into the downed spaceship.

Hefting up her pack with both arms, he yelled with urgency, "I-I'm stuck with your pack! Can you help?!"

"H-Hold on!" The Echani-blooded girl assured him, looking around her particular landing for anything she could use. Her tools were stored in her pack so she couldn't climb up the cliff and help down so easily. Apart from sticks and rocks, there wasn't anything but-

"Hey, how about that tree?!" Rosh proffered, pointing to what she just took notice of.

It was perfect. A thick trunk wider than the shuttle's own busted engines, it reached up more than twenty meters, if not higher. Walking up to it, she gauged the height of the natural landmark and over to where the other prospective student lied. Licking her lips, she rubbed her palms together and hobbled around to the flank where she'd face it and the cliff.

"You better stand back she told him," Withdrawing her leather-handled weapon. Pushing a metallic dial to ignite it with an audible hissing thrum, she raised her white sword of light with one hand, then joined it with two. Carefully spreading her legs, she angled her body till it was perpindicular and pulled the weapon around till it was arched over her leaning shoulders.

Swipe! A single snap, the blade left an orange scar that quickly left a groaning rumble of the large earthen protrusion. Falling with gravity's pull, it crashed against the cliff with a bouncing impact, settling down after a handful of seconds and loose rock fell off the topmost side facing her. In a move that surprised her, Rosh easily held her pack up over his head and then slid down the tree before jumping the last meter onto the ground.

"Ta-da!" He proclaimed with a grin of pride, hefting the pack over to her with both hands. "Good thing this didn't bust open when we crashed, huh?"

Turning off her saber, she hooked it on her belt and nodded with a relief-filled sigh. Everything looked in order and not a single breach was made in the pack. She made a mental note to thank Meelik for choosing this bag over the one she wanted.

"Come on," Jaden urged Rosh with a tilt of her head, placing the straps over her shoulders so she could carry it more effectively. "Let's get moving. We're probably more behind thanks to us being absent. I don't want us to stay the night in a place like this-"

"Wait! What makes you think they just didn't leave us for dead?" The young man asked pertinently. She rolled her eyes and began marching past the brook, and around the nose of the crater of the ship. "What if they're dead?"

"Because," She intoned, nodding ahead to what Rosh would soon stopping short at. "Dead crew and passengers don't just start walking off from a downed ship, do they?"

Just as she said, Rosh could see a host of tracks leading up a more traversable incline than the cliff he was marooned at, leading deeper into the jungle. Though they saw the man-made path, Jaden walked away from it, following the stream on the other side of the ship. Puzzling the boy, he stomped after her while trying his best to curb his tongue.

Which lasted all of ten seconds.

"We aren't going after them?"

"Nope," She flatly said.

"Any particular reason why?" He asked, his tone sounding as annoyed as Jaden was becoming.

"You should know," She began to explain, looking over her shoulder -around her pack- with a level headed tone. "That marching into the an unknown place in a large group is different than just the two of us. I've never been in a jungle before, and from what I've been told or read about, this is not a place you want to stay unless you're properly prepared."

"But, you got a lightsaber," The spiky haired teen gestured.

"Yeah, and what do you have?"

"Uh," Rosh squinted, reaching back behind himself to reveal a DL-44 blaster pistol; something you could buy at a Weapons Shop, nearer the top levels from where she was from. "I got this. I'm pretty good aim if I say so myself."

"Try using either of those when a storm comes in. Or worse, when wild beasts surround us, in the dark," She rationalized, shuddering visibly at the thought. Looking back ahead, she pointed with one hand at an obvious stone structure in the distance. "That's where we're going. And if I'm right, this stream should at least rush near it, if not past it."

"Well, lead on," He shrugged, admitting defeat in the midst of useless protest. "I feel safer being near the girl with a lightsaber than on my own."

"I thought you had the Force?" Jaden half-joked in inquiry.

"I have a gift with it, I'm not a full fledged Jedi Knight," Roth confessed, waving his blaster around as if to cement his lack of prowess. "I mean, that's why we were coming here, right? To be trained?"

"Yeah," She answered, her mind flashing back to her childhood friend telling her to go get training for that very reason. "Yeah I guess you're right."

"Well, don't worry, Jaden," Rosh boasted with an audible grin. "If you can't hit something with your lightsaber, I'll shoot it dead for ya!"

"I'm counting on you," The white-haired, silver-eyed girl intoned seriously. "Cause we got a lot of ground to cover."

* * *

The trek seemed to take less time than she anticipated. What a single errand back in the Coruscant Undercity would take nearly a quarter of a day cycle was taking only an hour to progress their journey. Though, of course, it wasn't without its obstacles, of that this jungle made sure of it.

From the get-go, they had to deal with four-legged reptiles called 'Howlers'; something Rosh seemed accustomed with thanks to research of Jedi History dating centuries back. The result of Alchemic meddling, these creatures produce a loud cry of shrill pitch, making even blaster fire veer off course when aimed directly and close contact make ears ring. Having dealt with small vermin of various degrees of danger on her own, Jaden made use of her lightsaber like she'd use a plasma torch or a hatchet she'd carry with her.

Combining Rosh's distracting shots that pelted its durable hide and forcing it to let out its scream, Jaden made quick work of the creatures, making sure to not let them get close when they were at their most deadly. She was only thankful that there weren't more than a dozen so far and rarely operated more than a pair at most, as hefting her pack and fighting was starting to become a toll on her. Still, these predators were small and easily dealt with compared to what she suspected came out at night.

"Whew!" Rosh exclaimed with a rub of a sleeve over a sweaty brow. "This place sure gets warm when you're working out, huh Jaden?"

"No kidding?" Jaden joked back, huffing and puffing as she hopped over a thinner part of the stream in her continued tread towards the temple. "On the bright side, at least this makes good training for teamwork."

"Yeah, you said it," The spiky haired teenager chuckled back.

"Wait-!"

"What?" He suddenly asked.

"Get down!" She hissed, dropping to a nearby boulder, unstrapping her pack in the process. Rosh followed her lead, his eyes going wide upon what he saw, falling to the ground on all fours in a forward scurry. With him looking over the boulder more than she dared, the young woman seethed with frustration at their current obstacle.

"Stormtroopers! Here?!" Rosh hissed under his breath with a turn of his face to hers.

"Our ship didn't just spontaneously crash on its own. Something forced it off course," Jaden whispered, holding her lightsaber up in a shaking grip. She felt a renewal of energy filling her up as she focused on the crystal lying behind the grip of leather and metal, drawing itself from the thick jungle atmosphere and the vibrant life that thrived all around her. It was beyond her ability to explain, but with her weapon in hand, she felt a second kind of strength that was extending beyond her own person.

"Let's take them," She thought out loud.

"Good idea," Roshi nodded, tapping her shoulder with the barrel of his blaster. "You first."

Despite her current state, Jaden couldn't help but turn to leer at the spiky-haired man for saying it.

"Hey, don't give me that look!" He hissed back at her, shaking his pistol for emphasis. "I'm the guy with the blaster, not a lightsaber!"

She wanted to say he was overestimating the value of her weapon, but decided to hold her tongue. Closing her eyes she inhaled deeply, and exhaled. Turning away from the boulder, she whispered back to him with insistence, "Find a way around them. When I draw their attention, take my bag and run."

"You realize how heavy this sack is-?"

"Do it, Rosh!"

"Fine-Fine!" He belabored with a shake of his head. "Go deal with that, and I'll deal with your baggage."

Snorting, Jaden began to make her slow creep up to the pair of Stormtroopers. Squatting low and watching her step, she trod in a way that was disturbingly slow in advance, but her deep breathing helped keep her from rushing off in a blitz. From the way they were positioned, they weren't even facing her, but just looking in a direction that kept periphery of the large monastery nearby.

" **What are ya thinking?** " One of them questioned out loud.

" **I dunno. What makes this place look so valuable?** "

" **Hey, I was the one asking you,** " The first asked with a tilt of his helmet.

" **If you ask me, this place is too old to find anything of worth. Like, who'd not pilfer this place for relics already**?"

" **Obviously the boss thinks this place has importance. Why else would we be told to set a perimeter?** "

" **Maybe to keep the animals or whoever's still out there from bothering them?** "

" **Yeah, like who?** "

A sudden toss of a hissing weapon suddenly caught the pair's attention. Helmets clanked upright, bodies turned towards the source of the sound. One of them had a saber slash through the visor, cutting straight through the other side in a horrid shriek. Spiraling around back into the grasp of a platinum haired woman, she looked as surprised as the other Stormtrooper did.

The sound of the other trooper's body thudding brought them both out of their stupor, as the second began firing blaster bolts at her.

Opening herself to the flow of energy that she felt pulsing from her weapon -no, this jungle- she guided her weapon in the most probably direction of the arrows of light. Pinging one, two and three in random spots of foliage, the third one struck him in the breastplate and a fourth to fifth one scorched through his visor and jawline of the mask. He too fell in a horrid cry, clunking to the ground with a thud.

"I...did it?" She asked aloud, almost smiling at her surprising victory.

"Yes, you did."

A haunting hiss sounded with a rattling growl of a similar device sounded from her left. The voice was muffled, as if something was covering the mouth. A slow deliberate turn of her head made the relieved expression on Jaden's face turn to one of alarm. A black cloth mask wrapped around the face of a man, his stature not too dissimilar to the troopers but was more covered in a rusty brown dyed tunic top and bottom, black boots adorning his feet while his hands held what looked like his own, black handled cylinder shaped lightsaber.

Though instead of a peerless white, it was a sinister crimson in its color.

Without another word, her enemy lunged with a five meter leap to cover the distance, flipping forward with weapon in hand to dispatch this new opponent. As if on reflex, Jaden raised her sword parallel to his downward slash, the two clashing in a shower of sparks. Continuing his momentum in a forward somersault, he landed a pair of boots to her back, sending her crashing face first into the dirt. Grunting from the impact, the distant vibration of her enemy's lightsaber grew nearer as he spun it in hand, readying to strike her down while she was down.

Twisting around onto her back, she flung a flung a foot towards his twirling blade, kicking the handle out of his grasp into the bushes nearby. Gawking for a moment at her audacious move, she drew on this well of strength her weapon was granting her, and pushed herself back onto her feet. With a twirl of her own weapon, she spun around to diagonally slash at her enemy, watching him disappear with a cartwheel to the side.

Gesturing to bring his weapon back to his grip from an unseen tether, he switched it back to life with a hiss of blood light and charged back with a howl for the attack. Backing away, she parried the weapon with basic sweeps, using what little knowledge of melee combat she had from her life in the Undercity to guide this flow of energy that kept her sustained at the moment. As if by a counter to her, this acolyte of the Force seemed bizarre in his presence and his actions were crudely effective; warped by power he had no inclination or true control over.

After the dozenth crack of her weapon, she decided to put use the other function of her weapon.

Turning a dial back as she pulled her laser sword to her side, the red-lit enemy saw an opportunity to lunge and seized it. Throwing the weight of her body around to step to the side while horizontally raising her weapon, her blade came around in an arc...a meter shorter than before. In changing the length of her weapon, she anticipated his choreographed move and let it past by as she moved aside, letting her own attack collide with his cloth covered face and out the other side of his head.

A gargled noise was made in the crackle of flesh being emaciated and scorched by lightsaber, causing the acolyte to stumble and then fall face first into the dirt. Ebbing a pool of blood with a disengaged weapon lying ahead of its grasp, Jaden breathed heavily at her fallen foe, sweat now layering through most of her clothes; along with a complement of mud and the brook's water. Taking time to look around for any further enemies she was relieved that she could strangely 'feel' no threat near her.

Disengaging her weapon, she hooked her weapon on her belt and bent down to examine the corpse. Other than his person, he carried no belongings other than the lightsaber itself. Taking it in her grasp, she looked at it curiously, wondering where it was made and why it looked so strangely streamlined in its creation. Was this thing mass produced, or personally crafted, she couldn't tell without a further disassembly.

A sudden wrongness, however, compelled her to look at the stone-laden temple not far away. Like she had thought, the brook had run into a moat of sorts, a ring of water that wrapped around the base of the temple to other streams that led to and away from it. Before she knew what she was doing, she was thigh deep in in the liquid border and advancing towards the temple itself.

" _It feels like...this place is losing its...shadow,_ " She thought with furrowed brows, scaling an angled partition of the stone structure and crossing over a stable platform to inch around its side towards an odd rumbling current.

Shuffling around, she came across a corner of the pyramid when her eyes saw a trio of figures, not too dissimilar to the acolyte from earlier. From this distance, she couldn't make out much other than their size and shape, with vague colors attributing them. Two were a bulky, masculine set that had burgundy robes, hunched over and seeming to observe a slender, feminine figure that was holding a spear or a staff of sorts towards the temple.

From that device came a current, and an odd vacuuming sensation of black emotions surged from this old, malice aged structure. It was like the coldness of the bricks and mortar was being siphoned out, if that made any sense. The more she looked, the more troubled she became. Her hands began to shake and when she thought she saw one of the hunching pair look in her direction, she recoiled, causing some sediment to come loose and tumble down with debris.

"What?!" A venomous voice cried out, turning her staff around in a sweeping motion, along with a column of that same twisted light.

A light that was all Jaden saw before darkness overtook her.

* * *

 **A/N** : Hey! First Chapter up! I've been in a real Star-Wars craze to get this out as quickly as I did. Probably comes with the territory of being attached to this incarnation of Jaden Korr, and perhaps because I love the mythos of this game so much. In any case, I enjoyed writing her meeting new people, taking in new sights and then having her first actual fight against poor fodder Stormtroopers and a Dark Side Acolyte. It's a shame she didn't quit while she was ahead, though.

What will come next? Find out in the next update! Until them, see you all later!


	3. Chapter 3 - Welcome to the Academy

_From the light she drowned in darkness. Crashing violently against her, the senses of Jaden Korr had jerked her from the conscious present into the unconscious unknown. Her body was sent into what she assumed was oblivion and the void consumed her, at long last, like so many she knew taken out from under her._

 _It was a familiar place, this dark pit of emptiness that filled her from the inside out. Gnawing and clawing at her was a bitterness of how unfair her life had been, the hardships she endured and the passion of her work going noticed by those who could profit from it. Even the alleged family was all but a lie, hiding their paranoia of her oddities and their distrust of what she was building in the solitude of her hut within the slab of permacrete and ferrocrete she shared the hundreds she was neighbored with._

 _Meelik was a liar, she realized in this light-less void._

 _She knew that he was a thief, a pickpocket and scavenger. The majority of people who lived so far beneath the more cultured of society were criminals of big and small stature, with her Rodian friend falling to the latter. She didn't want that life and had built herself as honest, sincere and someone people could depend on. A distrusting community was lucky to have someone like her living with them, and they'd fall apart without her._

 _Even if Meelik was to die, she wouldn't shed a tear._

" **Jaden?** "

A voice penetrated the darkness. Her eyes opened for the first time, as if realizing she had closed them tight. Her body was curled into a ball, hanging motionless and without anything definition she prided herself in her departure. The clothes that her dearest friend helped pick out, the braids that put her long platinum hair back, and the gloves she thought looked cool that he helped purchase on his own credit.

Choking out, she felt herself fathom just how much she was smothered by this blackness that snuffed out her spirit and put her in a downward spiral of negativity. Looking up, within the void, she saw a familiar and welcoming glow hanging in the air above her head. The peerless white, like her eyes, skin and hair, called to her in a gentle serene tone that stretched rays that illuminated her frame. Scales of shadow peeled off her person and warmth returned to her cold exterior.

Air filled her lungs and tears freshly spilled from her now shining eyes, enamored and captivated by the majestic light. She knew now what this was. Unfurling herself into her full height in this metaphysical space, she tried to swim out towards it. Her quivering lips trembled as she tried to push what strength passed for in this nightmare she was experiencing, only to find she could but naught move an inch towards the light.

" **Jaden! Jaden! Jaden!** "

Her name cried out with a chanting insistence, pleading with her to join its presence. She could see the shining radiance pulse rapidly with every repetition of her identity. The divine presence continued to permeate forth, unwilling to leave this void without her joining it, and the heart subsequently beat with every utterance it let loose.

 _A cold panic began to crawl back up her spine, telling her the warmth was beginning to leave her, just as her parents had. Just as Meelik had done in sending her away. Everyone abandons her, and even among a crowd of trillions she feels that icy isolation. The loneliness of what she had found comfort in what she distrusted and felt uncomfortable by, was also her greatest hurt._

 _If the light left her now, then...what was the point...of it all?_

" **Jaden Korr!** "

As if in response to this completion of her full title, Jaden realized this wasn't the crystal at work. Even as the chills pressured like daggers along her spine, the fear pressing in on her from all flanks, her illuminated face and hands moved with a visual dawning. It was never about the gem that had called out to her; it was just how she perceived it.

Closing her eyes tightly, even as the blackness began to swallow the whole of her face and right hand, the wrist of her disembodied left palm stretched out. Like the sensation she had experienced in gripping her lightsaber, when battling the acolyte of the shadows, she tapped into a deeper and endless network of energy. An interwoven connection that passed through the beating hearts of the Howlers, the white clad men of the Empire, and was reined in by Rosh to those flying with her.

It wasn't the crystal that had whispered comfort and serenity into her dreams.

Her outstretched hand, nearly consumed by the darkness, felt the imprint of something warm press into what passed as skin. The whole of her body felt immersed in a white hot heat, and silver eyed, white haired woman opened her mouth with a sudden cry as an immense flow of energy surged into her very soul. The cauldron of nihilism that she had sunk into was shattered, as she was spreadeagled in the middle of a luminous nova of alabaster radiance.

 _This_ was the **Force**!

* * *

"Jaden!"

Silver eyes fluttered open in a daze, her nostrils inhaling sharply and her throat heaved. Coughing in a fit, she turned with a groggy motion of her body, her finger-less glove raising up to shield sensitive rings from a temple's partially obscured Sun. Slowly, she caught on the fact the person hunched over her person and saying her name was a stranger.

"Huh?" She murmured out, her hand still raised as an inept attempt to shield her eyes from the rays that failed to be blocked by the man's head in the shade of the Massassi Temple. "What? Who are you?"

"Kyle Katarn, at your service," A grizzled voice proclaimed in a surprisingly gentle and suave manner simultaneously. A brown leather covered hand gripped her outstretched hand, firmly taking hold and pulling her into an upright seated position. From here, she could see he had a full dark brown beard, complementing his strong jaw, slightly pointed and angled nose with similar shaded irises. A shoulder pad was strapped on his right shoulder, a cloth of beige stretched over his broad and muscular frame. From what little she could tell from adjusting her sight, the man wore a large blaster holstered on a black belt holding up his light brown military issue pants, with a similar grade of black boots suited for field use.

Taking in the sight of a beautiful studded edged, smooth handled polished chrome cylinder on the opposite side of his waist, she understood the following words before he finished speaking them, "Welcome to the life of a Jedi."

"Yeah, I'm sure she _feels_ welcome," Another voice, younger than the older man kneeling before her said in a deadpan tone. Looking past the introduced Kyle Katarn, she looked at what she could only imagine as someone that held himself with both burdens and a radiant hope. It was strange but, she could tell just by looking at his face; a young one of fair complexion with a slight roundness to it, blue eyes and light brown hair resting in a slightly tidied order over his crown. He wore all black, almost like a jumpsuit had it not been for the silky gleam Yavin IV's Sun had over the textured material, complemented by the shin high boots he donned on his feet.

"Hey, I'm just being honest," Kyle shrugged with a wry grin, turning his smiling face to look at the younger initiate. "Trust me, this gets harder from this point on."

Sighing, the Jedi Master shook his head before addressing Jaden properly, "My name is Luke Skywalker, head of the Jedi Academy here on Yavin IV. I apologize for the unscheduled crash, but I assure you, we normally don't have such violent landings in Republic controlled space."

"We totally have multiple crashes," Kyle interjected with a wave of his hand.

"Kyle-"

"Sometimes in the same day," He added with a toothy grin.

"KYLE!"

"It's true, though!" The scruffy looking man exclaimed back with an exasperated wave of his hands. "I'm living proof of that!"

"Not everyone lives as dangerously as you," Luke pointed out.

"Whatever you say, Skywalker," Kyle finished with a roll of his eyes.

"Where's Rosh?" Jaden finally spoke, asking out loud what she had been wondering.

A sudden pitter-patter of feet approached, causing all three to look over to Jaden's left. Walking up onto the platform was the familiar spiky haired man she met only hours ago, rushing up to her midst with an ecstatic expression. Behind him were a pair of Jedi, wearing their own custom woven robes that were short and loose fitting, making it easy for them to move. One was a Kel'Dor, with an orangish pigmentation and bulbous lobes around the side of his ovular head with black respirators resting over his inhuman visage along with a pair of black optic spectacles. The other was a dark skinned human, with a shaved head and broad jaw.

Both of them were hauling up a damp body of the acolyte she had dispatched earlier, only now found where he was lying in the ditch near the riverbed. Dropping the cadaver unceremoniously, the Kel Dor kicked the carcass a few inches forward while the other man silently observed without adding commentary. Thankfully, Rosh said nothing of the corpse and dropped to a squat to expressively wave his hands for emphasis in his explanation.

"I saw a blinding light as I was making my way from your scuffle, like you said. By the time I got there, you were just lying on the ground unconscious."

"Do you recall anything?" Luke asked insistently, bringing Jaden's attention from her friend immediately back to the senior Jedi.

Jaden shivered, her mind briefly reliving the tangible chills she experienced from her nightmare. Closing her eyes, she strained with a wrinkled brow. Shapes returned to her thoughts and she slowly opened her eyes, tentatively as if she could lose the details if she became too lax.

"I saw...three people...standing at the front of the temple," She intoned, raising a hand up to enunciate two index fingers before ending on one. "Two of them were big guys covered head to toe in thick fabric of some sort, dark red in color. The other was this slender looking woman...who was holding a staff of some kind. And it was, glowing?"

"A glowing staff?" Rosh parroted out, exchanging a look with Luke, stating the obvious. "That sounds bad."

"It does," Luke affirms his own lips pursed as his own brow creased in thought. Dismissing it with a shake of the head, he bent down and extended his gloved hand. "Can you stand?"

"Y-Yeah," Jaden replied, still feeling a bit numb along the back and the angle of which her body had landed. Still, she grasped hold of the gloved hand and let him lift her upright with only a slight wobble before she corrected herself. Placing a hand over her heart, she exhaled with relief, nodding with acknowledgement to the Jedi Master's benefit. "I-I'm okay, I think."

Luke gave the briefest of smiles before closing his eyes and walking away a few meters towards the sheer surface of the pyramid. Placing his hand against the mossy covered brick, the Grandmaster of the New Jedi Order gave off a puzzled expression. Turning away with a brush of his tongue over his lips, he looked to a now standing Kyle, speaking in a more hushed tone, "I sense a disturbance in the Force."

"You _always_ sense a disturbance in the Force," Kyle jibed for a moment, his smile disappearing as he too looked at the structure that Luke was touching. Looking straight up, his eyes winced as he sucked the air between bared teeth. "But yeah, I sense it too. Do you think," He continued, waving a hand with speculation as his gaze returned to his, "It's because of the natural aura of the Dark Side prevalent in this place?"

"Perhaps," He responded lowly. Looking back at him, "Kyle, can you-?"

"Stay here and investigate?" Kyle finished Luke's sentence, adding with a sardonic enforced grin. "I'd love to."

"I appreciate it," Luke smiled sincerely, bowing his head while the ex-mercenary just waved dismissively at him. Returning to the fore, Luke motioned for Jaden and Rosh to begin following him, "You two, let's go."

"I-I can't believe it," Rosh giddily whispered to Jaden, the latter of whom only tilted her head curiously to her new acquaintance's excitement. "That was the Luke Skywalker! I can't believe it's him!"

Jaden then realized the significance of the man without asking for confirmation. Even those that lived in the lower levels of Coruscant heard of the gallant tale of heroism of Luke Skywalker among the many that died in sacrifice to destroy the first Death Star. His name, while not known in the initial propagandized 'horror' to the Empire, was soon plastered in posters as enemy number one to all Imperial Citizens. When news of the Emperor's death, along with his enforcer Vader, and the second secret planet destroyer, everyone made assumptions that it was Luke who was at the head of either or both instances.

It was no wonder she felt such a strong presence about him.

Still, the power that one woman commanded was unreal and abhorrent. In a single impact she was rendered helpless and through a miracle she survived without great injury. Her mind and spirit reeled from being consumed by darkness, a potential side effect of this weapon? Even if it wasn't, the sheer potential of the staff she held in hand was numbing to comprehend, and she hoped never to see something that cruel appear before her again.

But if the series of events had anything to tell her, it was that she was meant to see this and tell the Luke Skywalker about it. Was this what they mean by "the Force is with you"?

She hoped so, cause from this point on, she knew she was going to need all of its help; and then some luck for good measure.

* * *

There was something leaving the atmosphere of Yavin IV not more than a few minutes after Jaden and Rosh's rescue by the Jedi Masters. In a triangular array of fins at an angle from the starboard and port sides, with a single fin jutting upwards from the main, drooping nose of the vessel with its black shielding glass over the cockpit and the white-grey coloration of high grade plastic and metal weaving. Discharging its engines, its shape streaked across the endless vacuum, tearing off in with a booming clap as they left the rain forest moon far behind.

But, within the hold, was the perpetrators involved with the Jedi Transport crashing in the jungle.

What little troopers they had taken were in the front cockpit, seated with the pilot who was now taking them back to their undisclosed headquarters. Apart from that, the two hulking men in robes were in cross-legged meditation, with the female leader sitting upon her own legs with a passive, closed-eyed trance. She had the strange, arcane staff resting over her open palms, floating inches above them in constant suspension. She processed the bounty she had reaped from this world's mark of the Dark Side, and had a visible smile curled on her face.

As if waiting for confirmation, the once silhouette who invaded the Academy in the confusion, stood apart from her Master in silence with her legs spread and her hands clasped behind her back. Wearing a cyan colored, grey-tube collared vest, a pair of scarlet shoulder pads with indigo iconography etched onto the surfaces, she possessed a brown-beige pair of sleeves that were extended by a pair of forearm length black gloves. Her brown-beige boots, cobalt pants complemented her exotic crimson pigmentation, with her apparent Twi'lek head-tails hanging freely down her back with a black strap over her head that wrapped around her chin and around what passed as cone-shaped 'ears' for her race.

"Did you recover Skywalker's records?" The human woman inquired with a sultry tone.

With a sensual giggle of mischief, the Twi'lek apprentice responded with a melodic voice of her own, "Yes, I did so easily. With all the Jedi rushing out of the Academy into the jungle, even Luke Skywalker did not even suspect my presence for a moment. Leaving posed no difficulty whatsoever."

"Excellent," The Master intoned with a blood red curl of her lips and an orange ember glow emanating from her eyes. "It's time we go hunting, then."

* * *

Upon arrival, Jaden couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the Academy's sheer mass. True to Captain Hol'Dak's words, the original site of the Rebellion had been repurposed into the main grounds for those who'd operate out of the New Jedi Order. Doubtless there may be other sites, enclaves and sanctuaries, they can use on other planets but this place felt special. Teeming with life and a special organic connection with nature that made an impression on the white haired girl in such a short amount of time being here.

Regrouping with the other prospective initiates was a little jarring, to be sure. People she had distanced herself on purpose now swarmed around her in both awe and concern at her own safety, due to her and Rosh's separation. The young man took in the attention like a child from parents, with giddy eagerness and a visual showmanship she couldn't replicate. Nervously she'd smile, nod and say a few things to placate their interests, just enough to satisfy until the senior Jedi would ferret them away into the main hall.

There, she saw a beautiful empty space formed out of what was more than likely a ceremony hall the Rebel Alliance had used. Emptied of anything remotely technological, it allowed the aged and rugged beauty of the flooring and vaulted ceiling to take hold of her. Withered symbols were painted and carved into the ceiling in a language that was as dead as the people who once inhabited this monastery, illuminated by perforated slits on a podium near the end of the room. With a series of steps that lead up to it a row of Masters were lined up in presentation, including Kyle near the left with seven various individuals of varying importance. On the right was representatives few more exotic races, and one obscured woman with a hood pulled over her head.

In total there were around sixteen Masters for what was forty three initiates, not including Luke himself. Jaden speculated some of these Jedi, like Kyle, were forged only within the latter years of the Empire's fall or were found in the shadows and were awaiting the time to reveal themselves. It seemed these people had wisdom, skill and experience enough to teach the next generation whom was largely entering adulthood or were already matured by their own species' perspective.

A good number of the assembled chose to sit down, getting comfortable on the floor before things officially started. Seeing none of the teachers give any indication this was wrong, soon everyone was included, with Jaden taking a more respectful posture out of careful consideration. Crossing one leg of the other, she rested her hands over her knees, Rosh himself leaning back on his hands, rolling his tongue from one cheek to the other to pass the time.

As Luke walked up the stairs up to the back of the podium, a thought occurred to her. Blinking with apprehension she leaned herself in her current posture, comically tilting like a statue, before whispering to brow-raised Rosh, "Hey, Rosh. I didn't see you carrying my pack when I woke up. What did you do with it?"

"Oh that?" The spiky haired teenager looked over at him with indifference. "I told the guys on the shuttle I found when I was looking for help, like you told me, that it was yours. They said they'd put it in your quarters."

"But where is my room?" Jaden anxiously asked, leaning uncomfortably closer to Rosh's space.

"Uh, I'd assume they'll tell us in a bit-"

"I need to know now-!"

"AHEM!" Kyle's voice cut through everyone's background chatter, halting the anxiousness Jaden had at the moment. Rolling her silver eyes, the Echani-blooded girl looked ahead at the podium with everyone else. There stood Luke, hands placed behind his back and taking in the whole sight of so many prospective Force Sensitives. After silence had officially became the new audio of the ceremony hall, he'd finally speak in a clear and succinct pitch.

"I'd like to welcome all of our new students to the Jedi Academy," He began, his voice filled with far more enthusiasm than his distressed tone Jaden heard at the Massassi Temple earlier. "Here we will train you in the ways of the Force. You will learn how to defend yourself with a lightsaber, and then build one on your own in time. In addition, you will also learn diplomacy, history and more, to better mold yourself into protectors and mediators in the wider galaxy; be it for the Republic and beyond."

Walking down the steps with hands still behind his back, Luke continued to debrief them in as pleasant and serious manner as possible, observing them from one side of the room to the other carefully, "In the past, it has been the practice of the Order to have one Master teach one Apprentice and develop an equal bond. However, given how there are so many initiates here and so few able to teach, we will be assigning multiple masters to multiple students. As our numbers will grow, this will become less problematic so I hope no one has issues with that."

Hearing no real distress from the crowd, Luke smiled and looked around at the masters on either flank of him with visible relief.

"Alright. I'll begin to call out your names and assign you to your respective teachers," The Grandmaster continued, his eyes tracing over to one of the students up front, allowing the crowd to expect how this process was going to unfold. "Ral Theron, you will be assigned to Master Jade..."

At that point, Jaden began to tune out the names that were being called out, and instead looked at the directions students congregated with the master they've been assigned. She wondered precisely how they had agreed to form these units? Was it just a cold factor of chance of pulling straws out of a hat, or was there an element of the Force she was missing? Quickly though, she'd find over half of the students in front of her had stood up and walked around in clusters with their new mentors approaching them.

Pushing himself upright to stand, others began to do so as well, encouraging a reluctant Jaden to erect herself with them in patient waiting for their names to be called.

"I can't wait to get started!" Rosh exclaimed with a bright grin on his face.

Jaden couldn't help but shake her head, smiling almost ruefully at this young man's energy. She was still trying to cope being out of her literal comfort shell, and handling this new exciting place -all after experiencing a life or death struggle in a physical and spiritual sense- in a span of just a day and a half. Most of this moon's morning cycle was spent in dealing with the Empire affiliated Acolytes who were doing something nefarious to the Massassi Temple, and triggered a near existential annihilation to Korr's spirit.

She knew if Rosh had experienced what she had, he wouldn't be tooting his Woot Horn so brashly.

Finally, Luke walked past the pair, standing before them equally as he met eyes with Jaden and Rosh, "Rosh Penin, you will be assigned to Master Katarn. Jaden Korr, you'll also work under Master Katarn. May the Force be with you."

An exchange of looks brought the pair in realization that their earlier teamwork was no quirk or coincidence. Whether it was out of merit of their survival on their own or just an impression they gave jointly, they were now going to work together under the same master they both met earlier today. This also meant that Jaden will have to endure Rosh's more eccentricities, for good and ill. It was something she was unsure of how to feel, but Rosh looked more than pleased to be working with someone he knew, judging by his unwavering grin and bright brown eyes.

As the body of students scattered to find their teachers, they too also wordlessly searched for this Kyle Katarn. Navigating through half circles and lines made out of the assembly, they'd find him having a quieter conversation with the Grandmaster himself. Rosh didn't look unperturbed but Jaden couldn't help but narrow her eyes curiously as the words of their talk reached her ears.

"...and there was nothing," Kyle said, waving a hand for emphasis while the other half pocketed on his left hip in a casual stance before Luke's more disciplined, erect one. "Not a single brick out of place, not a sign of what they were up to left for me to dig up. More curious was that the aura of the Dark Side that had long since marked that place felt strange."

"Strange how?" Luke asked simply.

"It was like, there was no negative feelings, no echoes of anything malicious and evil that took place there," The bearded man answered in a more eloquent manner to verbalize what he had sensed. "Like the stains were removed entirely, not by cleansing it but by it being taken away by something else."

"Troubling," The Grandmaster intoned, pursing his lips and furrowing his brows with a pondering expression. As Rosh and Jaden's feet shuffled tentatively forward after stopping, Luke dropped his worries and adopted a mask of passive neutrality for their benefit; his voice soon followed suit. "But let's look into this later. Your students are waiting to get started."

Departing their vicinity, Kyle turned to face them proper, his hands now resting on his hips as he took in their current dispositions and appearances with a sweep of his eyes. Jaden could tell, unlike Master Skywalker, this man was a very rugged stone who had been shaped by the many events up to his life. Where Luke was a sense of serene tranquility and hopeful purity, this man felt muddied and grim but not entirely dour or bright either. It was like seeing a grey slab of stone that didn't shine or darken its surroundings, but had a use to it that she wasn't sure of just yet.

"Master Katarn," Rosh began to say, and Jaden sideglanced with a visible look of humor as he heard him embellish his tone to sound overly formal to the older man. "It is an honor to serve under you!"

"First of all," Their teacher interrupted, waving his right hand simply towards Rosh and Jaden, as if to set a ground rule. "It's just Kyle. Titles make my skin crawl, so don't try not to act so formal around me. Secondly, you're not serving under me. I'm going to teach you, and you're going to learn. That's it."

The spiky haired man's expression shrank and his face contracted to look ashamed, with even his shoulders sagging a bit. Jaden felt a little hurt with how much he wanted to impress his new teacher. She wondered if his understanding of Jedi had come from books and folktales to get such a boxed-in view of the old order of space monks.

"I-I'm sorry," The young man began to apologize, weakly emphasizing with both hands in a press of his palms in a halfhearted prayer. "I uh, didn't mean to offend."

"Don't worry about it," Kyle shook his head dismissively, adding with a smiling wink at Rosh. "I've been insulted by professionals, so don't feel bad. Just try not to make it a habit, hm?"

"U-Understood!" Rosh emphatically replied, standing up straighter than even the Grandmaster did.

"If you don't me asking," Jaden finally piped up, making the bearded man look to her in particular with his own brand of curiosity. "What are we going to do? Hopefully nothing too difficult, right?"

"That depends," Kyle began, arching a brow with a humored grin breaching his hairy face. "Do you think it'll be as hard as beating a Force User in a lightsaber fight and a pair of Stormtroopers on your first day?"

"Holo-dust, I hope not!" She exclaimed louder than she thought possible.

"You'll do fine. I'm not the most mystic of us Masters but I got a good sense for people. Once I point you in the right direction, it should come naturally," Kyle nodded to her with assurance, giving way a wave of relief on her shoulders. Adding for good measure, he gestured to her with caution. "Of course, that'll only be the basics. Advanced lessons will be things you'll learn in time, and there are some things you're going to understand when in the thick of it. Trust me when I say this, field experience is the best teacher and I've had my share of teaching done to me by it."

"When can I craft my own lightsaber?!" Rosh interrupted with almost too much vigor; for either Kyle or Jaden.

"Firstly," Kyle reached behind his back, pulling out a black handled, dull tin colored lens and pommel weapon that looked nary identical to that of a traditional weapon of the Jedi. "This is a training saber. Once you get used to using this thing, you'll already learn how to construct one of your own. I'd say if you perform well, probably a couple weeks, and a month at most."

"That long, huh?"

"You're lucky we have the resources to even make these," Kyle jiggled the cylinder in hand, handing it to Rosh as he explained with his free hand tapping the chrome plated weapon on his hip. "I had to make mine from scratch when my first one got scrapped during my early escapades. Instead of the old method of hunting down crystals in a dark cave, possibly filled by monsters and who-knows-what, we've been supplied with enough material to at least craft several blades over each."

"I guess when you put it that way, it isn't so bad," Rosh relented aloud, his shoulders no longer lowered by visible frustration.

"That being said," Kyle looked at Jaden, seeing her almost flinch as his eyes met hers. Realizing she was hiding something he chuckled and derailed his initial question. Pointing to the weapon on her hip, he remarked casually. "I'm impressed we got an initiate that's constructed one without any training, let alone knowledge of proper materials for it. Not just anybody can make a lightsaber, let alone use one effectively enough to take down someone armed with the Force themselves."

"I'm honestly not as good as you think," Jaden attempted to deflect, her silver eyes trying to avert from his while nervously smiling. Her face felt a bit flushed a bit at the actual compliment by a Jedi Master, though if she told him how she knew he'd laugh, like Meelik did. Twiddling her fingers around in front of herself, she bowed her head to the ground as she fumbled for the words to explain. "I've just had a, uh, good knack for understanding things when I take them apart. From that point on I can use parts from various things, scrapped or new, in order to make new things. I have a bit of a collection of parts I've assembled over the years in my bag," She trailed off, looking up nervously to Kyle in an almost child-like way. "C-Can I get my bag back soon? It's all I have left of my home."

"Don't worry about it," Kyle smiled reassuringly to her, bringing out a grin of relief on her own face that he laughed at. "We're not going to discard possessions like some kind of gaggle of hermits. We wouldn't be nearly this prepared to handle this Academy without the support of the New Republic. Once we're done with a run through the training course, I'll show you both where you can clean up and then get some rest before we move on from there."

"Thank you!" The platinum haired girl cried out, her hands placed over her now steadying heart. "It means a lot to hear that."

"Training course, you say?" Rosh asked, curling a grin and wrapping a hand around his chin with a gleam of competition echoing in his eyes. "Here I thought we'd have to do a lot of baby steps, but that sounds more up my alley," He lowered the hand, chuckling nervously with a shrug. "Apart from the, you know, eventual holo-book reading you're going to make us do about the other stuff Master Skywalker said."

"It'll pay off in the future, trust me," Kyle assured him with raised hands. "Unlike dropping into a place with little knowledge on the environment and the native language, or how to handle a situation you can easily solve with diplomacy, we're not going to treat this so haphazardly. We don't have the luxury of decades of refinement and poise, but we will have the advantage of plenty of things to speed ourselves into efficiency. Before you know it, you'll be on your way to becoming Jedi Knights proper; more or less what comes off as proper."

As if to capitalize on the topic, the pair were led on with a simple nod to the right, joining him in a casual stroll out of the mostly empty ceremony hall.

"Let's see what you two can do on the course," He intoned, with a hint of secrecy in his ambiguous declaration. Whatever his plans were, Jaden was certain that she was going to be in for a momentous Day One of training.

* * *

 **A/N** : So...I've noticed how little traffic is coming through this sub-category of Star Wars off the Jedi Academy video game. Given how dead viewership must be for this barren category that doesn't even allow "Character Selection" to be highlighted, I decided it was best to move over here. So if you're wondering why three chapters are suddenly uploaded on a brand new story, that is why.

I had fun with this Chapter. Like, I had a lot of enjoyment just creating my own Force Vision but through the complete immersion of the Dark Side in a metaphysical mindscape of sorts. I like to think here, in this moment, Jaden could've possibly been horribly corrupted by the Dark Side from this point on or been brain dead from just how much rot the staff inflicted upon her. In any case, I gave it a whirl and boy was it fun to imagine this kind of stuff.

The rest was pretty standard. I tried giving Luke a bit of his old personality back. No offense to the old Jedi Knight games but Luke was just kinda bland and stoic in the games. It sounds like Mark Hammil but it didn't feel like wholesale Luke, even in his most passive. Still, I tried to keep some of that pure composure and tranquility he had during Return of the Jedi, so it doesn't feel too off kilter.

Also say hi to the Mara Jade cameo!

I'm becoming really attached to my Jaden Korr. In a brief amount of time, summarized or not, I've just enjoyed creating a sort of vulnerable character with her own quirks and obsessions that make her tick. It makes sense why she wouldn't talk as much as other characters because of how she's lived up to this point. And her one-track-mindset on certain things that bother her or she's attached to, I find personally endearing. I'm sure its something people can empathize for her in one respect or another.

Next is training! Oh boy that's going to be fun to tackle. On a video game front, its very basic and thankfully that works to my advantage. Even by EU standards this was perhaps the better progression system of power and skill players can achieve in-game. Unlike Kyle who is just an unstoppable force, Jaden Korr is a learner and has to get used to wielding a more limited set of equipment and abilities until later-game. So, thankfully, not much of it will change other than a few tweaks for dramatic tension here and there.

And like that, hope to see you all in the next update. Or not, and I'll just reupload all of this on a different category of Star Wars on FF :P See you all later!


	4. Chapter 4 - A Swift Tutorial

The trip to the training grounds a short flight via shuttle. Throughout the trip, Jaden took the opportunity to take a peek at the ship's engine, watching it hum magically while Rosh began to ask a bullet list of questions to Kyle. The three found their time passed by within minutes, arriving without incident -thankfully- and taking a short walk up into the mossy covered ruins. With this being the early afternoon, rumbling storm clouds rolled along and began to gently lay water across the walled off, ceiling devoid area.

Keeping her hands at her sides, she was poised and alert, ready for anything her teacher could give her. Rosh stretched his body out, doing various flexes with his training saber in hand. As they did so, Kyle raised a gloved hand to his face, clearing his throat with a forced cough.

"Ahem! This here is the training grounds -one of many scattered across the moon- that the Academy will use to refine your motor skills and polish out your core Force abilities," He began explaining, ignoring the drops of moisture that landed on his clothes and hair. Pointing to a nearly bouncing Rosh and a cautious Jaden with a glance, he gestured to a pair of stone doors adjacent to the walls across and behind him. "I'm going to put you both in separate courses while keeping an eye on your progress. This way, I can gauge you both individually on where your strengths are and where you need improvement. Don't worry about slipping up here and there, just ask for help and I'll provide it in any I can."

"Understood, Mas-er-Kyle," Rosh immediately replied, almost tripping up on his words once again.

"I think I got it," The silver eyed girl nodded with acknowledgement.

"Great," The bearded man answered with a brief smile, nodding to Rosh and pointing to the far wall to Jaden. "Rosh, you follow me. Jaden, you head to the door behind me."

After a brief glance shared between each other, the pair of students departed down their own tasked courses. Walking over moist greenery, up over some paved flooring, she awaited the passage to be opened. Soon enough, the sound of a deep rumbling was heard and old mechanisms churned. In a quicker act of automation than she anticipated, the door opened simultaneously with the opposing door, allowing all three individuals to disappear at once.

Walking through, she'd see an open aired room not too dissimilar from the other, but with a crisscross of walking paths that branched out above her head by about twenty five feet. Plants received the drops of rain from above, as well as other open spaces that watered the healthy flora that bristled with the current drizzle. Taking a look at several receding slabs that looked like depositors for some devices, Jaden assumed that something was going to come out shortly and began to unlatch her lightsaber from the belt.

"As I said before," Kyle's voice resumed being audible, now bringing Jaden's eyes to stare up as he walked near the upper pathway that passed over the training course's constructed obstacles. Stopping near her -and what she'd assume was near Rosh's own designated room- he continued to brief them on the specifics before their first trial began. "This training course is designed to refine and master your Core Force Abilities. These are powers that all fully realized Jedi possess. Many more abilities, unique to you or presumably rare on their own, will become available to you during your training. Both the Light and Dark techniques are open to you.

"Remember," He informed them with a more serious tone than earlier, making Jaden almost lock eyes on him from her spot floors beneath him. "No power is inherently good or evil. It's how you use them that makes the difference."

Swallowing, Jaden reached up and rubbed the contours of the weapon she took off the acolyte's body. She had intended to keep it in order to disassemble and understand its craftsmanship for herself. When Kyle was talking to her before, she wondered if it was ethical to grave rob a fallen enemy, let alone keep a weapon that was used by someone of such a dark alignment. But now as he says this, she wonders if this was to reassure her that she had no reason to hide this weapon in the first place?

"Alright, onto the first test!" The Jedi Master proclaimed, breaking up the tension with a renewed jovial air to his words. "Rosh. Jaden. Your first test is to check your reflexes. While this is perhaps the most natural thing that depicts the difference between Force Sensitives and those who don't possess the Force, we are going to polish that lightsaber prowess of yours. I'll be sending out some remotes that'll fire stun bolts; they can't kill ya, but they can numb and certainly have a bite to it. Practice deflecting and reflecting shots off of these. Once you're done finish them off with a good stroke, and tell me when you're finished."

"Ready!" Rosh shouted with enthusiastic vigor.

"Ready," Jaden answered afterwards, igniting her saber in a halo of silver in the dimly illuminated training room.

"Here come the remotes."

That was all the warning she got before a familiar looking droid popped out of one of the many carved holes of the open-aired chamber. It was small and perfectly spherical, with a number of recessed dots on them that contained miniature blasters within its hovering ball. Whisking across the air, it'd whiff and click across the room in little bursts of momentum, but nothing she couldn't keep track of.

Then the first shot rang out.

"Hngh!" She grimaced, twisting her blade around in a counterclockwise arc to intercept the bolt. Unlike the morning before, this was a far slower and less threatening shot. Her body may have been poised but it wasn't passively drawing upon the Force, like she had done when filled with a motivation and a batch of adrenaline pumping through her. So when she arched to deflect, she missed narrowly, and it struck her in the shoulder.

Thankfully, she heard not a peep out of her teacher, if only to keep her dignity from being more injured than her now sore upper arm.

Clicking to and fro, the remote continued to fire pot shots at her, taunting her by just being out of range of her blade. Every once in awhile, she'd move in a muscle flex of her weapon to knock the bolt aside or just send it back at her foe. In over a minute, she felt as if she wasn't getting anywhere until she felt a sudden inkling at the back of her mind.

" **Relax**."

Slowly, she began to inhale and then exhale deeply. This wasn't the same as a tense fight against enemies who wished to kill her. This was just a test, to see how well they handled a saber in general. She couldn't rely simply on her connection as a last resort; she must be passively connected and be able to use it for any case, be it an armed acolyte or an obnoxious droid remote.

Firing again, she moved with far more grace to deflect the remote's strike this time. She felt almost like squealing, but another shot pushed her to maintain focus. An arch of peerless white and the shot was reflected back at the droid, making it spark and sizzle, but still airborne. Furrowing her brow, she knew this was going to take more than a few shots of its own weak stun shots to put itself out of commission.

Dialing her emitter, she slowly approached the remote with her weapon deceivingly growing smaller. As if a programmed response, the remote diagonally swished towards her, sensing no such danger from an imminent demise. But just as it fired at her, she cranked the dial back to its maximum length, producing a two and a half meter snow hued blade that crackled with visible thrumming energy. Easily absorbing the shot, she swung her weapon across the air and obliterated the retreating remote in a single stroke.

"I did it," She gasped aloud, her smile aimed up at Kyle, whom looked at her with indifference. Before she could ask why he wasn't saying anything, the familiar clicks and swishes of remotes coming out of the holes of the walls made her groan out loud. Turning back to her chamber, she realized that she had not one but now four spherical stun droids to contest with. "Holo-dust!"

They all fired interdependent of one another, angling to be just out of range of each other's trajectories while still homing in on her as the target. Reining the Force in to make herself flow one shot after the other, she soon found it easy to predict the nature of their attacks from one another. Telegraphed in several dashes and a shot or two, only changing up the formula after a thrice repetition. It didn't take more than twenty seconds for two to go down by reflecting the other shots into them, and an additional ten seconds for her to line up an elongated blade stroke to take the rest down.

Then an additional two came out of the walls, just to test her patience.

"DONE!" Rosh's voice sounded off obnoxiously to Jaden's ears.

"Nice work, Rosh," Kyle complimented, if only to drive the nail further between the cracks of the platinum haired head of hers.

With a growl, she leaped up towards the wall they were hovering by, and kicked off its surface. In the midst of her backflip, she cranked up the dial to its maximum length and created an underhanded circle of silver that severed the top of one remote while obliterating the other. Landing finally back onto her feet in a crouch, one last remote swished out only to be destroyed by a swift overhand throw of her blade, impaling into the wall with a molten impact.

"You did well too, Jaden," Kyle added, doing his best to not show any sign of humor at the visible frustration his female disciple had as she walked to retrieve her wall stuck saber. Seeing them both walk forward, the doors opened, revealing a hallway filled with torch depositors that lit the way and occasional old iconography of a previous civilization's placement here. Jaden took an interest in these, making note of their hooded visages and old lettering, perhaps making a mental note of some of their details while Rosh just looked around carefully for additional remotes. During their short trek, Kyle continued to lecture. "Your lightsaber is an invaluable tool, capable of defusing a volatile situation even when inactive; trust me on that.

"As you train, you'll learn additional fighting styles. Changing styles in combat is something that'll give you an edge over an opponent with a more rigid defense, surprising them and giving you an upper hand," As his voice seemed to trail off, a click on her belt sounded off, giving an audio echo from a pair of devices handed to both students before arriving. " _From here on out, we'll talk via comlink in each section of the training courses. Let's move on_."

The stone door opened for Jaden, allowing her to navigate further onward. An open space appeared after the passage sealed behind her, revealing a bridge's flank facing her and some trees along a border wall to her left. The not-too-distant sounds of Howlers croaking and squealing put her on edge, keeping her lightsaber lit and tight in hand. Walking around a boulder, some loose stones and through some tall grass she turned the corner and found the bridge's surface disheveled, shoddily maintained and evidently left in disrepair halfway across; with one gap being nearly two meters long and the other being just under a meter.

"Okay, Jaden," Kyle began to instruct, his voice distinctly level and calm, by extension giving her more control over the situation in front of her. "Use the Force to jump across the gap here. Don't worry if you fall, it's not a very high bridge and the bottom is mostly just a brook below. Climb back up and try again if you need to-"

"No need!" Jaden reassured him, defusing her blade as she took off in a run towards the bigger gap. Without any hesitation and, with the Force still imbued within her lithe frame, made a deft leap that was akin to a prancing steed over a race's rampart. Skidding with a slight slickness to the ground, she landed several meters past the edge of the other side of the bridge, allowing her to keep on walking to the next spot. "Nailed it."

"Alright," Master Katarn complimented in his voice, partially amused at how quickly she pulled it off. Once she came up to a partially loosened wall, with several bricks missing from the face of it, he then returned to lecturer. "Next step is utilizing the Force to Push through obstacles. Sometime's it's a good way to offset an enemy's footing, and in this case, it's a good way to get into an area you can't normally just open. Go ahead and give it a whirl."

Looking down at her hands, the Echani-blooded teenager wondered if she could pull it off. To use brute force, even as something as simple as shoving through a wall, wasn't anything she had accomplished up to this point. But as she looked at her hands, her mind recollected that instant where the ship was colliding into the ground, and their side of the hull was being sheared in an imminent impact. She had lost consciousness when it happened but she had understood what she had done.

They weren't thrown from the ship through happenstance; _she_ threw them from the ship.

"Well, I don't need to pull off anything that huge," She thought, glancing at her saber and then at her free hand. Clenching her unarmed palm, she relaxed it and raised it up towards the decrepit obstacle. Gripping her prized weapon, she invoked her catalyst's nature as a tether to the Force and became filled up with its light. Her fingers tingled and her palm surged forth an intense pressure that buffeted the air in front of the wall.

Rattling violently, it'd suddenly erupt backwards in a such thuum, as Jaden successfully 'Pushed' the wall of ancient bricks aside.

"Wow," She mouthed aloud, looking back at her hand with a smile. "That's...kinda cool."

"Good work. Move onto the next section, Jaden."

"Can't let me revel, can ya?" The platinum girl joked back, feeling a bit more comfortable with the man this far into the course to snark this way. Passing by the loose rubble was an open courtyard, filled with a variety of eroded and broken structures with vines crawling over and grass filling in between them. A well with most of its top half filling the flora inhabited center was to her right, bordering what looked like a pillar adjoined bridge that continued past this partition of the ruins into another building entirely. Other piles of stone -likely part of nonexistent buildings now- scattered around- with a particular ominously looking obelisk within a several step deep recess of untouched stone near the back of the courtyard, two dozen meters away from her and away from the next stone door.

"Hey Jaden!" A familiar voice called out to the platinum haired girl, gaining a curious look and half smile from her. It was Rosh, standing on the bridge and suspiciously near what looked like a stone-outlined square that looked like a button. He had a mischievous expression as his unarmed hand raised to slightly press against it, then push it back all the way into the pillar with a succinct click. "This should keep you busy until I finish the course!"

Before Jaden realized what he meant by that, a door slid down and revealed a broad, tall clanking entity from under the bridge. The spiky haired student was already gone by the time a bulky droid came into view, immediately fixing its upper body in her direction. It wasn't full plated, just compositing of block-shaped metallic partitions around the joins up onto grappling hands that were devoid of individual fingers. Its head was flattened onto the upper torso, unable to move on its own without the body moving in accordance. But while it looked not too different from some hauler droids she's seen in the lower to upper levels of Coruscant, its right hand angled around diagonally across its midcenter and ignited a neutral yellow blade of light.

"Rosh, you Duracrete Slug!" Jaden cried out in anger, her whole body filled with a fiery energy of vitriol that enacted her alarmed filled senses into action. Igniting her weapon in a two-handed grip of her weapon she rushed towards the nearest object that'd upset the droid's lack of dexterity; the well. While it loudly clanked in haste to approach its target, she had more than enough time to hop onto its decomposing wall and then on the upper half of the eroding bricks.

Braced for action, the droid came in with a rigid yet strong stroke of its solar colored rod. Sparking with a loud crack, she felt her arms spasm slightly from the strength the synthetic enemy possessed without a single muscle in its body. Using a purely defensive pose she deflected its attacks, reading its pattern as she did so, allowing the Force to guide her hand to keep from making a mistake like she initially did with the remotes.

Seeing that it largely didn't deviate from its pattern of attack, she managed to back out of the way of one strike before she stabbed its unarmed shoulder and pulled it up in a severing arc. Leaving it bereft of its free hand, it continued to assault like nothing happened; however it gave her the opportunity to take advantage of its now defenseless left side.

Bending her knees, she propelled herself with the Force upward in a vaulting forward flip, parrying a diagonal stroke of the droid's along the way. As she turned around in mid-flip, she slashed wildly at its right shoulder down its back and around to its right hip, tearing it into pieces before she tumbled in a somersault away from the maimed machine. Just as she caught her breath did she finally resume her initial acclimation to her environment, realizing this place must have served a similar function in the past, to have machinery and mechanisms in place from eons ago that still work to the Academy's advantage.

Looking over at her dispatched opponent, her ire simmering into an intrigue to the fundamentals of this mechanical automaton. It reacted without any instruction and fought with a simple yet effective motion that required a high ground and the Force to match it. Indeed it looked like the chasis and appendages looked like modified variants of the same model used to move crates, meaning it had more than enough toughness and lifting strength to quantify for using it as a training bot. Observing the arm welded saber, she saw that it contained its own power source, separate to that of a standard cylinder that a Jedi's weapon ordinarily wield; a similar emitter with its disc of a familiar shape, just a different casing and energy fueling it.

Biting her lip, she looked around and ignited her lightsaber, severing the arm at the elbow. After assuring that the sparks were doused, she took the damp appendage and slung it over her shoulder. She had a reason for taking this, beyond simple mechanical tinkering...

"Hey, Jaden," Kyle's voice rang out from the comlink from her belt. "What took you so long?"

Temptation. That's what felt in having her teacher call after her, no doubt wondering why she hadn't checked back in after so many minutes went by. She wanted to lash out, at him and how Rosh had access to such a trigger to activate. Or better yet, to tell him exactly what happened and how angry she felt at the spiky haired man for doing something so underhanded for some self gratification.

But the times she's remembered Meelik being outed for theft, leaving him to face brutal consequences that affirmed his fear of the dangers of those that'd catch him outright. She's seen the scars, and the horror on his eyes. This wasn't the same circumstance, not by a wild shot but...

"Nothing," She sighed.

"You're sure?" Kyle pressed.

"It was _nothing_ ," Jaden answered, placing a seething emphasis on the latter word the most to shut down her Master's interrogation.

A few seconds of silence later, and Kyle resumed his dutiful lecture as she passed by the obelisk and past the automatic stone door. Here, she could see it was a tall ceiling with all four walls covering the space and other braziers lighting up the stone-bricked structure with a soft orange-golden glow. A set of bars holding a level was to her right and an unmoving door, identical to the one closing behind her, lied to her immediate front.

"To get past the next room, you have to Pull with the Force on a lever somewhere in the room. You can't reach it with your hands, so you'll have to be open minded in how to perceive the environment to overcome an obstacle," He intoned, thematically shifting over as if referencing a past memory of his for example. "If you're ever in a situation where you can't find a means to get past a lock door, look for the guy in charge. He usually has a key."

Jaden felt this should be an easy task. Placing the droid's saber-arm under her right pit, she she reached out with the Force via a hand gesture to the lever beyond. Tugging a mentally conjured grip on the stick she managed to make it budge with a rattle before it 'Pulled' it back with clenching twitch of her wrist. An audible click sounded the gears unseen, mechanisms churning the door upward to open the path for her.

"Very good," Kyle applauded, awaiting her entry into the next chamber. Down a staircase of luminous artificial lighting -Academy inclusion, no doubt- she entered another brazier lit room, with a pile of bricks lying precariously in a pile to her left and a bridge-like path lying out of reach by a good thirty feet in the air. Looking around, Jaden wondered what the trick was to this room when Kyle continued the lesson. "In some situation, using the Force to 'Sense' the environment allows you to piece out things that can help you move on or find things that you'd normally not be able to detect."

"Sense, huh?" She repeated aloud, looking back at the pile of bricks and then up at the wall. She had to admit, something definitely felt off. She wondered what purpose the odd shape and coloration of the slabs of stone served here? The more her eyes peered at it, the more the Force thrummed around the spot her gaze focused. Deciding to focus, she widened her lids and opened them while funneling the tingling sensation from her body to emerge around her sockets-

"Whoa!" The silver-eyed girl exclaimed, suddenly viewing the world in a new spectrum beyond simple sight. Light ebbed off the cornea of her view, violet streaks painting a circumference around whatever she was seeing. Looking just above the pile of sediment she'd see an angle spacing of old lettering inscribed onto the surface of the aged stone. She knew she didn't see it earlier, even with the lighting, so an unknown means had been used to mark these slabs as a focal point.

Reaching out with the Force, delicately maintaining her vision's 'Sense', she tugged on the inscribed stones and withdrew them half a meter from the wall. As her rings of light faded, the inscriptions vanished but the slabs remained protruded, acting as a crude stairway towards the suspended hallway near the ceiling of the chamber. Calling upon the flow of energy coasting through the training grounds, she walked up the pile of bricks and hopped up onto it to the right of the entrance she came from before turning to the next and only step.

Steadying herself she knelt her knees and leaped, propelling herself with this newfound power of hers to cushion her landing in an uninterrupted impact. Repeating the process, she carried herself under this enlightened power to the hallway's floor with a tap of her feet, allowing her to breathe out a gasp of thankfulness. She could feel her body getting a little weathered from the ordeal as sweat mingled with the dampness of the light rain of the moist moon of Yavin IV.

Jogging down the corridor she'd pass by a bridge, minding the disheveled brickwork of the flooring and then circle around a brazier lit room with a single pillar jutting from the floor up into the ceiling. Once she passed by another set of stone doors, she finally heard Kyle's voice sound off in the comlink.

"You're almost there."

She hoped that was the case. She was trying to make good time now, passing by a partially illuminated hallway of both artificial lighting and braziers that she passed by from above and on either side. Another stone door was just up ahead, leading to another part of this mysterious labyrinth.

"This next part you'll need to be fast to get through," He instructed her, explaining the next application of the Force she'd use. "Using the Force to Speed will heighten your body and mind's responses. It allows you to make quick decisions in a shorter span of time."

Passing through the door, she saw a direct fork in her path. They were nigh identical in distance, meaning there was no shorter cut like the bridge had posed from earlier. Instead it was purely on her application of the Force to move as quickly as possible.

Hooking her lightsaber to her belt securely, she held the droid's saber arm in both hands, bending her knees and lowering her upper body closer to the ground. Just like earlier, she grasped the tethers of energy that flowed free and loose around this old place, bringing it towards her own body to enhance it in the way she desired. Blood pumped faster, her weight lessening in every respect and the hairs along her neck down her spine stood on end. Eyes dilated and her mouth parted ever-so slightly.

Then, she throttled herself in a streak, causing the door behind her to close while she chased the distance to the opposing right one. It was moving far more quicker than the others did, on purpose no doubt. Reaching three quarters of the way, she chanced a dive, soaring off with the latest left foot's purchase on the ground to corkscrew just beneath the closing door. Sliding across the slick and mossy ground to the middle of the next open-aired room, she let loose a sudden gasp at the sensation of running a long sprint at top speed.

"Going to...have to...practice that," She confirmed out loud, pushing herself up from the ground to tensed up legs. Finally regaining her second wind, she walked out of the room and past an opening stone door; seeing an open courtyard not too dissimilar from the place they had just started, if only in looks. She quickened her pace, just in time to see Rosh was barreling into the vicinity at the same time.

"So, did I win?" He asked, his question making Jaden's attitude sour immediately.

Kyle, noticing the change of expression to one of disgust on his female student, neutrally turned to clarify to energetic pupil with a wave of his hand, "This wasn't a competition."

"Ah," Rosh stopped short, looking a bit befuddled. He realized he made it into a competition from the beginning, before they even left the Academy to the training grounds. Awkwardly shifting in place, he looked back up at his master and muttered out. "I-I'm sorry."

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," He gestured, pointing to Jaden for emphasis.

The sourness felt intoxicating as Rosh seemed to coil up defensively upon seeing her, his eyes looking more confused than apologetic. Her lips curled into a snarl as she walked up towards him, his body lurching back while his shoulders bunched up, hands cocked at his sides in an attempt to signal her to keep back. Wanting to layer it on thick, Jaden withdrew the arm of the training droid, shaking it in front of him for effect, while hissing out, "Guess this was just for kicks, huh, Rosh?"

"H-Hey!" He unfolded his pose, standing up a little to wave his hands as he tried to muster up a laugh in encouragement to his fellow student. "It was j-just a joke! I didn't mean to-"

"Rosh," Kyle intoned seriously, his voice becoming severe enough to warrant his gaze turning from Jaden's. "If that droid was set to Luke's training regimen, it would have killed Jaden! What were you thinking?!"

A look of mortification was embalmed on Rosh's face, his complexion paling. He had no idea there was an actual legitimate danger for something meant as training. He was so used to the soothing guidance of this laid back master that he hadn't realized the consequences of obscuring another student's path, especially in a way that could get them killed.

Turning to see Jaden had turned from him, her back was facing both Kyle and himself. Bowing his head, he raised his hands in a pleading gesture, of which he hoped to emphasize as he said, "Jaden. I-I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to-!"

"Save it, Rosh!" Jaden snapped, her hand rattling the droid arm in her grip, her shoulders shaking in visible ire at what's unraveled.

"Jaden," Kyle began speak, his voice calm but determined to mediate this situation. "You have every right to be angry. But believe me when I say you don't want to feed that emotion."

Clenching her eyes, she knew he was right. Rosh was a gullible sort, and full of ideas that not all were necessarily good. She knew people like that, and some of them meant well even if they fumbled on doing the right thing. Even when selfish it wasn't purely malicious as it was just a self serving instinct, particularly in a childish action of competition like he had made it out to be.

As she had opened herself to the Force, she felt the knots inside of her unwind and the whispers from beyond caress her into a tranquil state of mind. She had been worried that it was her awakening to this connection that'd tempt her to tap into a darker aspect, and perhaps that was what made her act in such a rare demeanor of anger such as this. But now, after feeling such relief and peace from the crystal that eased her suffering and mended her scars, she knew that the Force wasn't wholly evil as it was good.

It was like Kyle said: it came down to how she used it.

"You're right, Master Katarn," Jaden turned around, her face revealing a relieved expression. Her eyes shined a radiant glimmer of silver once more, her chrome hair sparkling within what gleams of the Sun made it past the clouds down into the courtyard they were standing on. Gesturing to Rosh, she spoke aloud with a vibrant calmness. "Apology accepted, Rosh."

"Good, now that's settled-" The Jedi Master began, stopping short to look at Jaden chidingly. "And, remember it's **Kyle**."

"Ah, yes Mast-uh-Kyle," She fumbled, now finding herself making a similar mistake Rosh was making.

"Sure thing, Kyle!" Rosh parroted, already renewed in spirit despite his transgression minutes ago.

"Okay, you've done well in showing me you both got what it takes," The bearded man grinned, proclaiming ominously with his hands pocketing his pants halfway. "Time to show your skills off in the real world."

Saying this, Kyle felt a weight on his shoulder and he turned to look with Jaden with cynical eyes. Rosh had taken the opportunity to lay an arm over the older man's shoulder, leaning against him as if acting more like a comrade. However, seeing his master's grimace firsthand, he backed off and put his hand behind his head nervously; allowing Kyle to make a mocking brush of his hand over the spot he leaned on.

"Can I keep this?" Jaden asked, finally feeling like she had an opportunity to bring it up.

The Republic Agent turned to see what she meant, now getting a good look at it. The severed arm of the practice bot still had the hydraulic system, its power drive and the built-in saber with its emitter undamaged. It still lacked the overall connection to the training droid's core, but it could still be rerouted to a different source, as far as he could tell.

"I don't see why not," Kyle replied, grinning wryly at the visibly giddy Jaden. "Are you some sort've grease monkey-lizard?"

"I've been good at taking apart and fathoming machines since I was little," She replied honestly, looking down with a bright smile and enamored eyes at the device laid bare over her. "I recognized the model of the droid, but I never seen modifications like this before. I want to know how it works, and if its any different from my own lightsaber."

"Want to compare the corpse's saber while you were at it?" Kyle asked.

She shrank at this.

Jaden knew that the Jedi Master had suspected something from the moment he looked into her eyes and asked about her prized possession. Almost with shame, she reached into a concealed pocket within the upper fold of her sleeve-less vest. Withdrawing it slowly, Rosh -whom stayed quiet when regarding the droid arm- had his eyes widen at the sight.

"Is that-"

"The acolyte's lightsaber," Kyle finished for Rosh, looking over at him, seeing the glint of desire emanate from his eyes. "And more than likely a far cry from anything you're going to build, right Rosh?"

Pursing his lips, Rosh muttered out something unintelligible in confirmation, as if quietly relenting an attempt for claiming the weapon. He knew that he was acting in a jealous spat of envy, wanting something that was right in front of him sooner rather than later. But, if what he had learned today meant anything, the fastest wasn't always the winner.

"My only question is why did you hide it?" He inquired with an obvious gesture. "Were you afraid that we'd take it from you?"

"Yes," She answered meekly, her eyes flashing to his with a bit of a hurt echoing from her silver irises. "I wanted to know...how this functions. I've never seen another lightsaber before and he used it so oddly. Like, it wasn't his own. Like it was given to him by somebody else."

"Couldn't you have left that up to Luke and the others to decide?" Kyle asked, now looking more curious than strict.

"Like I said, I have a knack of fathoming how something ticks when I see it in the sum of its parts," She explained, gripping it tightly in hand while loosely holding the droid arm she had been excited over a minute earlier. "I want to know why it glowed red. Why it hissed like a serpent. Why it burned with such an aggressive ferocity when in his hands. I just have this yearning to know what's in his saber, just like I want to know how the droid's saber functioned."

"Man, you really are a mechanical nerd," Rosh joked, causing Jaden's face to burn across her cheeks. Laughing, he walked up, playfully patting her on the shoulder in assurance. "But that's okay. I'm a pistol jockey who doesn't know when to quit while I'm ahead. You're a mechanical genius who can't stop tinkering. And Kyle's just an old man who hates official authority as much as he hates being titled 'Master Katarn'."

Kyle laughed, taking a step up and lightly jabbing Rosh in the arm. The younger man flinched in response with a playful grimace on his face, just happy to have caused enough of a scene to make Jaden's countenance return to normal. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders along with Kyle's, he pulled them close to his chest and laughed out loud.

"Man, we're going to get into so much trouble and have so much fun, aren't we?" He asked, flashing a broad grin at both Kyle and Jaden's faces; both of which deadpanned stares at him.

Releasing them, Jaden mirrored her master's second dusting on his person with her own, shuddering at being embraced so intimately without any permission or warning. Rosh was truly an insufferable jerk, but she was okay that he meant well. She let out a soft, melodic laugh, just as Kyle chuckled gutturally himself.

"Jaden, seriously," Kyle turned back to his student, bringing her eyes back to his. "Don't worry about sharing things with me, or Luke for that matter. We may be old and a bit rough on the outside, but we do empathize with you. If you want to keep something for your own devices, just show it to us first and we'll make exceptions. We just want to make sure whatever you're tampering with isn't dangerous to you. Understand?"

"I understand," She smiled, now more enthusiastic at feeling trust from him that she can place back in kind. "Thank you, Kyle."

Just as the atmosphere had settled down into a more jovial sort, a voice cleared up and all three Jedi turned to see the Grandmaster himself. He was standing by the exit doorway, his black cloak drawn over his matte onyx uniform that he had shown off hours earlier today. With his hood thrown back, they could all see a more serious expression on his face, a stark comparison to the hopeful smile he had shown to the students hours earlier.

Kyle approached him ahead of the others, speaking loud enough for the pair to hear without it sounding like it should be kept from them, "What is it, Luke? Did you find out something?"

"I did," Luke answered, pulling out what looked like an old book, which was worn but carefully kept despite the ages it's seen use. "The markings on the acolyte's robes and the description Jaden had for the two men and the woman's spear-like staff was enough for me to look back in the old historical texts. They all tie back to one Marka Ragnos; one whose died over five thousand years ago."

"Hold on, are you serious?" Kyle began to ask, his voice growing tense with his words. Then, he grinned lopsidedly, and he waved almost dismissively to comical effect that made Jaden and Rosh snicker. "Oh wait, of course you're serious."

"While you're out on your missions, please be on the lookout for a group affiliated with Ragnos," Luke ordered, his eyes unwavering in stoicism to cement his stance on this subject.

"Sure thing, Luke," The old friend of Skywalker answered, relenting enough to ensure that he was going to make a serious effort for this objective. The black cloaked figure of his turned and exited out of the stone doorway, walking back into the rain-filled forest the way he came. Sputtering between his lips, Kyle looked back at the pair and grinned wryly, pocketing his pants in emphasis. "Looks like we're going to have our work cut out for ourselves."

"He said _missions_ ," Jaden inquired, looking a little bit confusion. "What does he mean by that?"

"I was going to tell you later but, why not?" Kyle shrugged, relenting with a relaxed attitude. "We're not going to tackle anything today after the haphazard arrival and passing the training course with flying colors. So, in a nutshell, we're basically fulfilling requests by the greater galaxy to help out in any way we can. Given there are so few of us, we strategized in us masters handling with you students by a 'learning by doing' method. You'll get firsthand, real world experience and optimistically helping people out like the Jedi Order is meant to."

"I guess that makes sense," Rosh stated, looking to Jaden with an upraised finger. "We can't sit on our hands the whole time we get up to Jedi Knight status, right? Might as well quicken the pace and show off what we can do, learning on the way."

"It sounds risky," Jaden added, looking a little cautiously at Kyle. "What kind of missions are we doing?"

"Not gonna lie, anything can happen out there," The Jedi Master admitted with a grim smile. "I know you came here to refine your talents and control your powers, but this is the kind of thing expected of us here. If you want to bail out, I understand-"

"N-No!" She exclaimed with a sudden wave of her pilfered saber and acquired droid loot. "That's not it! I was just saying I'd like being given a heads up if I'm being dropped down in the middle of a warzone or...a toxic planet full of giant bugs...or in a ghost planet."

"Haha! You've read a lot, haven't ya?" Rosh asked.

"Yes!" Jaden exclaimed wide-eyed, looking to Rosh with inquiry. "Hasn't everyone?"

"Not as much as I'd like," He admitted.

"You'll be given a selection of missions to handle ahead of time," Kyle explained, placing a hand on his hip and nodding to her for confirmation. "You'll be given a summary, what to expect generally and how much support you'll be given. I can't always be with you, and more often than not, you and Rosh won't be seeing each other on the field. This will be great to build up what kind of Jedi you want to be when making decisions that matter; ones that'll affect you as you grow stronger and learn more here at the Academy."

"Don't worry, Jaden," Rosh reassured her with a thumb's up and a grin. "This is what we're born for!"

"Yeah," She hesitantly answered, sighing out loud with a sloppy smile of her own. "I guess you're right."

"For now, let's get you back to the Academy to get you cleaned up, fed and get plenty of sleep," Kyle rattled out, gesturing to follow them out the stone door. "Something tells me you both will have a big beginning tomorrow."

* * *

 **A/N:** And that is Chapter 3, our tutorial Chapter. I've gotta admit, as annoying as he was in the game, I'm warming up to even Rosh Penin of all people! Like, he's just kind of a goofball who just wants to live out the idealistic dream of being a famous Jedi Knight. Jaden's our realistic main protagonist who is more cautious and obsessive to a point, but Kyle's level-headed and well learned experience is going to *hopefully* keep the two of them in check. They're probably going to be fine; _probably_.

As for what mission she'll start off with? I haven't decided yet but I won't let her be on a especially dangerous one right off the bat. I may do a mission per chapter, with maybe some auxiliary sections to acknowledge they *are* learning the necessary academic courses to increase their diplomatic and historical knowledge. Maybe I'll throw in an arbitrary love interest? Haha, no! But seriously I might make a few side characters just for kicks :P

Until next time, see you all later!


	5. Chapter 5 - Droid Hunting

The following morning was, as Kyle assured them, a very important one. Not only were a great deal of students early to rise to get in some education, training and breakfast, but they were all given a variety of assignments to choose from. While more complex missions were divvied out on the regular to Jedi Knights and other more experienced members of the order, the masters took great care in constructing a list that they felt confident their students could handle.

As recompense for how sour of a turn the training course went, Rosh offered to let Jaden pick the first mission. She didn't know if it was all that much of a blessing, considering she was still very new to this 'bigger world' she was placed into. She had already slept restlessly until she had recreated -as best as she could- her Peace Dome with some sheets and pliable plasteel chords adhesively tied together over the platform suspended bed she was given. It allowed her the illusion of something familiar, even though she knew she couldn't just hide inside forever.

No matter how much she wanted to.

Sleeping several hours later than most of the students, she was finally roused out of sleep by insistent knocks by Rosh. Dragging herself out of bed, she made herself decent and made sure to change back into her personally ascribed clothing -that she made sure to wash thoroughly when she made her room her sanctuary- before exiting her quarters. Joking with her as per usual, the pair met up with Kyle who had a holo-pad of a list of missions they were designated into handling. After looking over some of the initial descriptions, she finally found one that piqued her interest.

* * *

 **Mission** : Droid Recovery

 **Description** : A moisture farmer on Tatooine has recently overheard a conversation by a group of smugglers talking about a Sith cult in a local bar, having his R5 droid record the whole conversation. Unfortunately, he became afraid for his life and sold the droid to some Jawas before leaving the planet. Get a hold of that droid's memory before the Jawas wipe its memory. Locate the Jawas, purchase the droid and return to the Academy.

 **Equipment Provided** : E-11 Blaster Rifle, DL-44 Heavy Blaster Pistol, Tenloss DXR-6 Disruptor Rifle, Bandoleer of Grenades

* * *

After pointing out to the mission she had been looking at, Kyle also eyed the selected mission with interest. Seeing potential for a lead on their connection to the Ragnos Acolyte and the three that Jaden saw at the Massassi Temple, this Sith Cult might be the connection they need. If nothing else, they can at least be aware of other groups becoming a problem in the presence of other factions of the Imperial Remnant, vying for dominance.

They'd depart within the hour, processing the mission with Luke and acquiring the use of a shuttle to help ferret the droid back. Hopping on board the Yavin Runner II, one of the Harkness Class Corellian Shuttles, identical to the one she flew in to the Academy. Taking off, they were greeted with the sight of an orbiting Republic Cruiser, no doubt delivering materials and offering temporary security in light of the Imperial presence that touched base on the lightly populated moon.

Their flight was uneventful and fairly short, allowing her to read up some info on the desert planet and alleged home of the Grandmaster of the New Jedi Order. It was hard for her to process that such a barren world could have been home for such a serious yet gentle person like him. Then again, she came from the underbelly of the galactic empire's capital world, so she had no room to claim someone's birthplace made them any more or less important. She wondered what kind of place Rosh came from, or Kyle for that matter.

Touching base at the last known location of the tip that alerted them to this mission, Kyle and Jaden headed out to a cliff-adjacent moisture farm, finding no Jawas to be seen.

"Must've just missed them," Kyle intoned, bending down to gesture at the significant grooves in the broad floor of sand. "See that? Tracks. The kind that only a Land Crawler's treads can make."

"Must be nice to have a moving fortress to move across the desert," Jaden muttered out, her eyes peering at the canyon of rusty colored sediment they were surrounded in. She didn't know if it was her gut feeling or the Force telling her that something was watching them but she felt extra antsy just standing out in the open. Reaching for the lightsaber on her hip instead of the new DL-44 pistol holstered on the other side of her belt, she simply grabbed hold of it but didn't unlatch it just yet.

"They can't have gone far with a trail this fresh," The Republic Agent assured his pupil, standing upright with gloved hands dusting off each other. Nodding over at the moisture farm, he kept his gaze on hers, alleviating her tension if only for a few more moments. "Listen, I'm going to talk to the moisture farmers that live here. They were the ones with the tip and knew the guy. Maybe they heard anything else on the Sith Cult. I'll scope around if I come empty. In the meantime, just follow the trail to its source and deal with the Jawas if you can."

"O-kay," She answered, though not too enthusiastically. "My Jawa is on the nonexistent side so I'll try my best to strike a deal."

"They more or less understand Basic," He remarked with a dismissive shake of the head. "Relax. Jawas aren't that big of a hassle. As long as you flash some credits, they're willing to bend backwards to make a profit. Just try not to spend too much; this _is_ the Republic's money after all."

"I'll do my best," The platinum haired teenager sighed, tightening the Disruptor Rifle strap over her shoulder. With a turn on the heels, the pair of Jedi walked in opposite paths, with one heading inside and the other further outwards.

She followed the tracks, keeping an eye on the many rock formations that walled off this part of the desert. Partly thankful this wasn't the Dune Sea, where normal day temperatures soared to inconceivable levels of dry heat, the shade and humidity caused by the occasional moisture vaporator she'd see erect from the ground did little to add to her enjoyment to this ungodly rock of sand and stone. Twisting around a corner, she'd find a path divvied around where a moisture vaporator was and a host of small, brown cloaked entities.

She wondered if they were the ones, but upon approaching them, they all spoke an incoherent language and began to shuffle away quickly. Grimacing, she felt half a mind to give chase when the source of their fear echoed after them. Her eyes widened and she looked around towards what she saw in the shadows emerge tall, savage looking humanoids. Armed with spiked clubs with spear tips at the far end of their pole handles, they charged at the bipedal cloaked rodents, snarling with a primal malicious intent.

She had read about these _Sand People_ , but she didn't know they had antagonism to the Jawas.

Pulling out her pistol, she fired a few shots at the sand in between the infamous Tusken Raiders and the devious scavenger merchant Jawas. Sand exploded and sparked between them, deterring the larger creatures while hurrying the screaming midgets to find safety in the corner of some eroding, abandoned beige ferrocrete buildings. The Raiders cried out in fury, raising their sticks up in the air with a taunting howl and gestured in an aggressive sign of predatory intent.

Holstering her pistol, she withdrew the lightsaber and ignited it, pointing the thrumming blade at the sand by her feet. The weapon was enough to make the tall savages halt their monstrous cries, now simply staring at her through their intimidating air filter masks. They looked to one another, muttering low grunts and whispers, obviously deliberating on the next move.

"I'm not looking for any trouble. Back down and I won't harm you," Jaden promised them, doing her best to enunciate clearly in case they understood her. She eyed on the tops of the rocks nearby, checking to see if anymore were nearby. She heard them shuffle quietly on the sand, forcing her to look at their circling motion around to either wall of sediment to her flank, attempting to surround her.

Feeling a bit of fear of possibly being assaulted on all angles, she raised her saber to wave at them all around, using her free hand to shuffle in her jacket for her other gear. Her rifle would only do her so good before they got close enough to clock her with their assuredly effective _stabby_ looking clubs. The Disruptor was out of the question and her pistol didn't pack enough power nor speed to get them all. The sign that they were more on guard instead of intimidated by her lightsaber was also something she felt remiss on.

Which left her with the bandoleer of Thermal Detonators.

Pulling one out, she placed her thumb near the activation switch, taking care not to touch the "Dead Man's Trigger" this weapon was known for. They were in a meter distance exactly from each other and they numbered up to six. This won't dispatch them all, but it'd be enough to break a hole in their formation and allow her a swift victory.

"Last chance," She warned, raising the grenade up for them to see, clicking the timer with her thumb. "Run. Now."

One head look to another. Another looked back. A guttural shout akin to a war cry was let loose as they broke formation and rushed forward.

"I warned you," Jaden sneered, tossing the weapon underhand, letting the sphere spin up into the air just over their heads.

Then, an ignition of flames and force struck them from behind. Having only a basic understanding of thrown explosives the Tusken Raiders doubtlessly assumed if they ran forward, they could avoid being hit by the bomb head-on. Instead they underestimated the sheer yield of a single detonator, as it obliterated a six meter pocket of sand while scorching through their bodies from behind in a bombastic luminous ball of orange-red fire.

With half of their ranks downed, the other shrieking Sand People stumbled forward, still off-set by the blast's shockwave. Jaden had anticipated the explosion and planted her feet solid, the Force enabling her to not even flinch from the bomb. In awkward motion, this allowed the defensive stance Jaden adopted follow through with a series of graceful strokes of her peerless white sword. Sickening cries of agony were cut short when each strike finished them off, leaving cauterized wounds over their torsos, dismembered limbs and one suffered a beheading.

Exhaling out, she disengaged her weapon, looking to see the Jawas had stopped cowering by the half-buried homes, built into the side of the canyon. Fastening her weapon to her belt, she walked over casually, trying to not appear threatening to the small creatures. They were still huddled together and made no attempt to approach her outright.

"It's alright," She tried to assure them, smiling as she reached a hand out. "I'm not going to hurt you."

One of them made a bubbling noise before making a spitting sound. She didn't know if it was being rude or simply stubborn. Apart from that, none of them looked eager to greet her, let alone thank her.

Lowering her hand, she sighed.

"Do you know anything about the Land Crawler that came through here?" She asked.

The Jawas looked to each other, whispering and clicking their unseen tongues together in a joint conversation. Having no comprehension of their speech, she could only get a semblance that they might understand what she was saying. They'd occasionally turn back to stare at her with eerie, glowing orange orbs for eyes behind the silhouettes of their hoods. Placing hands on her hips, she began tapping one foot, growing impatient at how long this was taking.

One of them raised a hand, as if asking for something.

"You want money? For information?" She inquired with a raised brow.

Rubbing his fingers together, the Jawa nodded his head.

Narrowing her eyes, Jaden deadpanned in response, "You don't know where it is, do you?"

The Jawa, along with his associates, made a series of babbling sounds in conjunction with rude gestures. Stomping on the ground they'd kick the sand at her, indignant about what she said. Closing her eyes, she pointed at the deep tread tracks not far from where the bodies of the Sand People were.

"I can just follow that, without paying you a thing," Jaden said simply, her eyes now cynically staring at the rude cloaked aliens. "So if you don't give me anything, I'll just leave."

"HOO-TINI!" A Jawa cried out with what she assumed was anger.

"Yeah, up yours too, little money grubber," She rolled her eyes, walking away from the babbling and ungrateful lot.

Walking away from the sandy part of the canyon, she found that the tracks had carved their way through some grooves of more floors of stone. Arches of the canyon from one wall to another had visible scrapes, even from the height they presided she could tell. It was likely that the Jawas had navigated their way into what was a profitable community at one point but now, as she could see from just the group earlier.

This canyon has been entirely taken over by a horde of Tatooine's most savage indigenous people.

As if to prove her point she felt a sudden alarm ping through her from the bottom of her feet to the top of her head. Lurching to the side, a golden bolt streaked by where the side of her face was, smashing into the rock with a sizable hole. Turning from the sizzling impact, Jaden could see a Tusken Raider kneeling atop a distant cropping of stone with a long rifle aimed at her. Firing again, she quickly ignited her lightsaber and deflected it in a timely swipe, making it ping against some other stony flooring.

The sounds attracted from another gaggle of Raiders, allowing her to see numerous groups taking up rifles and their clubbed-pikes in readiness. They looked like they were lying in wait, using the mostly intact ghost settlement as cover. Even as she began deflecting shots, she took off in a run across the uneven earth towards what she hoped could be cover.

Unfortunately for her, that didn't stop the mob of Raiders rushing at her from all sides.

One caught up, despite the deceivingly cumbersome desert cloak it wore, taking a swing at her with its mace. She ducked, letting it whiff while continuing to rush through. Another cascade of shots rang out from hoarsely croaking Tuskens, making loud banging sounds with every click of their antiquated armaments. Thankfully, she had enough reflexes to deflect some, even others accidentally nicking or outright downing their own kind.

Breathing heavily as this process continued, she felt the sprint was the longest one she had to make. Being boxed in by so many of these psychos made her yearn for even Rosh's inane quips to calm her down. Her heart was beating fast in her chest and her foremost thoughts was just to get to the nearest building for sanctuary.

"Almost, there!" She cried out, swinging her blade around in some discouraging arcs to keep the Raiders from getting close to her. Taking the last few stumbling steps, she reached the door. Halfway turning to lash out with her weapon, severing their melee weapons and some appendages to any that got close, she pressed her hand on access switch next to it. She hoped that there'd be enough space in the small enclosure.

Entering in with a few steps, she glanced around with a paled expression. This place was hollowed out, with its interior buried by sand and fallen sediment, the back of the room leading down a dimly lit tunnel; populated by Raiders from within. It was only a handful from what she saw, but she knew that only meant more deeper in.

Gritting her teeth, she pulled out another Thermal Detonator and dropped it at her feet, using the Force to Speed herself into the mouth of the tunnel. The initial Raiders only had seconds to react to the streaking platinum headed interloper, her peerless blade moving with just as much blurring momentum as she was. One was completely cut in two from the head down the groin, another across its armed waist and a final one thrust in and slashed out from the side.

By the time she finished, a loud blast took out her pursuers, collapsing the building's roofing and any potential for the ones behind her to funnel in. It rattled the tunnel, some stalactites cracking off onto the floor and the bulb lights patterned along shuddered in effect. Worse still, more Tuskens rushed around a distant corner that she could perceive that the tunnel bent ahead, noticing the commotion she caused.

"I really don't want to deal with you people right now!" She exclaimed, raising her blade up as she rushed back ahead into the fray.

Much like the Howlers she confronted with Rosh, the Raiders weren't especially dangerous on their own and relied on their numbers too much. That, and surprising them, which they did by masking their intentions by posing as settlers waiting for caravans like the Jawas to pop up and look to sell their collected trove of junk. In all of the confusion, they most likely abandoned their moving fortress and made a break for it, explaining the bunch of them rushing away ineptly from the Raiders she saw earlier.

The Force itself guided her actions far more seamlessly than it had the previous day. Having awakened something inside of herself when that staff struck her, she had been forced into a situation to completely succumb to her darkest fears and anger or let in the Force itself. Since then, her test run with Kyle proved she could call on it with more of a passive action than needing to concentrate all of her being into one miracle.

It still didn't make it any less difficult. The horde of Sand People came in great fervor, with one handful replaced by another around the bend. She had to cut them down in single strikes, to lessen the effort she was expending in this grueling endeavor. If she was to make it out of this place alive, to complete her mission, she had to make sure she wasted no energy in escaping this tunnel full of them.

Passing by a particular bend, she finally took note of the shape and state of the cave system. She knew the Raiders didn't have the capacity of creating something so intricate as this labyrinth, so the metal support columns placed strategically in the center of the cavern made sense from a mining perspective. Explosives were crated in some areas, with some mined materials placed in sealed canisters that have likely not seen removal since the Raiders inhabited them.

" _It looks like the original settlers had a mining operation going on, and sold things to caravans or their neighbors, like the Moisture Farmers,_ " She conceived, taking a few moments to observe the materials from an open crate. The investigation itself explained a few things, fascinating her, but not enough to stick around. Catching her breath was one thing, but she'd truly lose it if Kyle had to bail her out because a horde of stick and antique gun toting Tuskens were going to be the end of her.

"There's got to be an exit around here somewhere," She mulled aloud, jogging a bit past a forked left of the tunnel she had just passed by to a dead end. Maneuvering around over to another opening to an additional tunnel she peeked her head in and saw some Raiders still huddled up by a single open cave entrance. It was more than likely twenty meters, more or less, of a distance and they were all carrying melee weapons while more than likely waiting for more word to reach them of prime prey.

Deciding to look the other way, she could see only a dead-end where a collapse must have happened long before she arrived. Nodding with confirmation, she gave her body a break and defused her blade. Holstering it on her side, she withdrew the Disruptor from over her shoulder and took a kneeling position just a few inches out of her exit. Setting the magnification of her scope to her specifics,

Then, she held down the charge and felt the weapon whir audibly next to her left ear. Pressing the trigger, the weapon gave a slight kick as a bolt of red light lanced into the upper torso of the Raider; piercing him and visibly disintegrating him in between the other Sand People.

They let out a baffled croak, crying out at the sudden death of their kinsman. This was cut short by a less than full powered shot through one of their helmets, shattering the cranium and vaporizing its head off its shoulders. The other received a shot to its abdomen, bowling out its innards as it held onto a bloodied spot over its robed belly before keeling over onto the sandy ground.

"This thing is nasty," Jaden muttered, pulling away the gun from her face, grinning almost manically at it. "I must find out how you function!"

Feeling the urge to disassemble the weapon, she had to slap herself and tell her to focus on the mission at hand. Slinging it back over her back, she took a short trot down to the bottom of the tunnel, escaping it back out into a much hotter outside as the canyon was in a broader valley full of similar abandoned buildings; with the center of its community being one looming burgundy colored land vehicle.

"That's the Crawler alright," Jaden intoned to herself, jogging up across the sand towards it. She was surprised to only see a couple of Sand People by the monstrous proportioned vehicle, pestering what looked like a bunch more Jawas. She was tempted to just leave them, but her temperament to the Raiders was already long since gone.

Pulling out her E-11 Rifle, she began to unleash a hail of crimson bolts on them. They screamed out in death, falling onto their back as the burst-fire method had worked well enough. She briefly mused if the Jawas were even the 'right ones' but didn't want to go through this whole effort for nothing. Looking down the path, she spotted a few more and whipped out her Disruptor to disintegrate a couple more before making her way past the gargantuan hulk of metal. Its sheer mass was something for her to behold and she knew it'd take over a week for her to find the essential systems that made it move, let alone keep a bunch of sentients comfortable and alive through their desert trek.

Looking around, she saw a platform had been lowered from the Crawler's clearly open forward flank, obviously having expected to be greeted by prospective buyers. Seeing Jaden appear at the bottom of the metal walkway, the Tuskens looked to each other before opening fire at her with rifles in hand. Seeing her adeptly somersault out of the way from their rifles' shots caused them to snarl and croak out angrily at her, re-aiming-

-only to find a hail of blaster bolts tearing through their chests with unrelenting ferocity.

"I've just had enough of you lot!" She seethed, visibly infuriated just how many Sand People she had to dispatch. This wasn't even counting the dozens if not hundred she ran away from in that one walled off part of the settlement. She had no doubt in her mind there were more inside, causing her to groan as she confirmed her fears on reaching the top of the platform.

She had to duck out of the way, peppering off a few shots while looking for a way to get up, seeing as there were no stairs to the upper level, let alone any hint that slicing through with her lightsaber was a good idea. Looking up at what looked like a crane of sort with a pair of treads attached to what she assumed was a lifter of some sort for the bulkier storage inside. Getting a curl of a smile, she compelled the lift with the Force, lowering it down just enough for her to leap onto it and raise it back up.

Jumping onto the upper story deck, she navigated past more Raiders that she wasn't able to pin down with her rifle by whipping out her Dl-44 Pistol. She now knew why the Academy insisted equipping their students with ranged weapons as the difficulty of ranged enemies or simply exhausting yourself with a saber was apparent. She was no stranger to firearms herself, but she was using them far more now than she ever had to in the past.

Dispatching the last on this level, she quickly found an elevator shaft that just fit her frame. Landing with a crouch, she saw a dark interwoven passageway of bulky machinery and the smell of smelting metal. She was fascinated by a passing sight of what she assumed was parts that were scavenged, melting them down and molding them into more properly used parts or pieces to be sold later. The industrious nature of the Jawas piqued her interest but the sight of battle reeked all around the Tusken infested Crawler.

Passing by a few Raiders, they foolishly rushed into dual wielding hands, gunned down in a merciless exchange of golden streaks and red bolts. Navigating by broken machinery spouting flames haphazardly, dousing a bed of molten metal gone awry -thus freeing some trapped Jawas, yet again- she trekked across the cooled surface quickly to the other side. This little navigation inside the keep-sized vehicle ended with her finding another elevator, this time dropping to the floor full of droids and machine parts.

If it wasn't for the Raiders present, and the mission on hand, she'd gleefully throw herself at all of the technology just waiting to be examined!

Sadly, her brief smile of elation turned sour as the chorus of croaking howls echoed the enclosed space. Holstering her weapons, she withdrew her lightsaber, dialing it down to a shorter length to avoid striking the machines, boxes and ceiling with her saber. With a white glowing blade in hand, she easily dispatched the crude close quarters tactics of the Sand People, disabling and dismembering the creatures one at a time as she came across them. Their numbers were far smaller and easier managed as she maneuvered around one aisle of droids after another series of disassembled parts.

None of them were the droids she was looking for, forcing her to enter another room.

Seeing a Tusken with its back turned to her, she plunged the weapon unceremoniously in its back and let it gurgle with a thud onto the ground. Twirling it to a reverse grip, she ambushed another one the same way, not even bothering to let them see her. Pushing past the resistance was easier without them ganging up, putting up a fight and forcing her to exert anymore energy than she cared to.

Finally, at the end of what looked like a wall of adjoined tube-shaped elevators -like the one she entered from earlier- she saw the droid. It was a bucket-headed R4 unit alright, with white plasteel framing and red streaks painted over it. Keeping the blade close at hand, she saw it was active and it spurted out familiar electronic jargon.

"No, I'm not a Raider," She answered, shaking her head, smiling with relief at the droid. "I came here to bargain for your release from your current owners. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like they're here to barter, so you better stick with me. Safer that way."

Warbling out beeps and bloops in affirmation, it angled forward, following her towards the closed elevator. With just a protruding access stick, it unlocked the mechanism and rolled itself out of the automatic door, dropping to the sandy earth below. She followed, narrowly fitting like before, surprised that any Raider could stand squeezing through such a tight space.

Just as she was thinking they were in the clear, the droid shrieked in alarm, backing up towards her as howling Sand People emerged from around the corner, armed with more spiked clubs.

"Oh just slag it!" Jaden snapped, pulling out her E-11 and began to burst-fire several in front of her. Just as another handful emerged from some structures they were presiding, she felt her weapon sputter and click, revealing it to be empty. Emptying the energy cell and packing it with a click, she continued to unleash a hail of bolts, not bothering on accuracy as she emptied pack after pack into lines of charging Tuskens. The sounds of her blaster echoing as nearly two dozen bodies finally fell and the valley she was in quieted.

Heaving heavy breaths, she turned her head left and right, letting vapor hiss from her blaster's barrel as she clenched it tightly in her hands. The droid began to warble out that it detected no more life signs, allowing her to calm down. The Force rejuvenated her, allowing her to relax and take stock of the situation. Even though it was a shortcut, she was blocked off by a good number of Sand People lying in wait and possibly more numbers than she was aware of back where she came.

Calling Kyle over the comlink, she hailed him to her spot, sitting tight so he could cut her trip back altogether.

Sitting on her haunches next to the droid, she had to take a breather. She had hoped that the mission she chose was going to be a simpler one, what with this being a simple droid acquisition. Instead, it turned into a nightmare full of Sand People. Her survival skills aside from living in a treacherous place like Coruscant's lower levels, and dealing with the questionable to dangerous people she did at a young age, she never imagined in her life that she'd have to fight armed savages on a backwater planet such as this.

The familiar thuum of an incoming spacecraft perked her ears, eliciting joyous sounds from the R4 unit that were complementary to the reunion of student and teacher. The greyish-white hull of the ship landed near the crawler, allowing Jaden and the unit to approach the Jedi Master as he greeted them at the top of the landing ramp. While he looked relatively untouched from her departure, she was dirtied, sweaty and had some flecks of rust or blood on her clothes.

"Well you look like you had yourself an adventure," He mused aloud in humor.

"Oh yes, it was just a swell time," She intoned with a dreary voice, her body rigidly upright if only through the tension she still felt around some joints in her body. "Just ran into a whole herd of Raiders. Apparently they used this ghost settlement as bait for the Jawas, if not other caravans. They were all over the Crawler and there was a good hundred of them I barely escaped nearby where I left you at."

"Seemed like you handled yourself pretty well," Kyle mentioned with a complimentary gesture.

"I never want to be on this planet again," She flatly stated.

"Unfortunately, we just might," He warned, gesturing to her to get in full. "Let's get this droid back and I'll give you time to clean up. I've went over the mission list and we may not be done here, though I can assure you Sand People won't be involved."

"Are we taking the droid straight back?"

"To save time, it'd probably be best if we headed over now. I can make the trip back if you want to take a rest-"

"No, i-it's okay!" She exclaimed, raising her hands and waving them with insistence. "I can handle this if you want me to."

"Well alright," Kyle grinned, obviously pleased to see her accept his proposal. "Then join me in the cockpit. I'll get our droid stashed away so he's safe and then I'll tell you all about it."

Jaden nodded with affirmation let out a long sigh. Fighting so many Tusken Raiders at least deserved a bit of a break, so she knew she'd at least like to sit down before moving to another potential conflict. Knowing her master, it was likely to happen than it was to not happen at all. She wondered if Rosh was on a mission right now, and what kind of success he was having without her?

Choosing to ignore such things, she walked away from Kyle and entered the cockpit, just hoping for the best; as much as that counts for anything after the day she's had.

* * *

 **A/N:** Ah yes, the Droid Recovery mission. This is probably one of my more favorite missions to play if only because I got to cut up actual Sand People instead of the weird, grey flak jacket, bowcaster and bandage-headed "Tusken Raiders" that showed up in the Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight game. What were they even doing offworld, acting as pirates or mercenaries? Was that even a thing? In any case, it was fun to drive Jaden slowly batty with these obnoxious waves of savages, forcing her to get well acquainted with her armanents before they're tested on real enemies.

All in all, pretty well paced if I do say so myself. Hope you all like it and are ready for the next Tatooine Mission, and that's gonna be a fun one to write!


	6. Chapter 6 - Merc Mania

"So, what's this mission about?" Jaden asked, anxious to know what she was getting herself into.

"From what the ship can decipher without R2? It confirms another report we got not long ago," Kyle began to explain, piloting the Yavin Runner II along the desert planes towards their desired destination on the other side of the hemisphere. "Apparently after I talked with the Moisture Farmers, the Sith Cult has been popping up at a lot of major trading posts and settlements on Tatooine. Combine that with the iconography on the cloak of the acolyte you took down and the staff, this is the work of the Disciples of Ragnos."

"What's a Sith?" Jaden inquired, still unaware exactly what a 'Sith Lord' really entailed.

"I'm not too familiar with them myself apart from what I've researched at the Academy," Kyle spoke flatly, licking his lips as he furrowed his brows during the ship's flight, as if he looked a little disconcerted about the topic brought up. "All I know is that, whoever the Emperor was and Vader, are the closest things to Sith as they come. The real Sith were monsters, gods even, that died off over a thousand years ago. Ragnos apparently was one of the biggest deals and held an empire together through his sorcery and sheer dominance on the battlefield. The guys who replaced him pretty much led to an endless series of infighting that led to them dying off, reappearing over and over until the Rule of Two happened; basically, what Vader and the Emperor are."

Hearing the older man talk, she wondered if he was misleading in how he wasn't familiar with the Sith. It wasn't of huge importance to her, since it was pretty clear that whatever these people are _aren't_ the real icons of myth and legend. Based on the bizarre appearances and outfits, she could see how someone could mistake them for this popular title of historic significance, but not a seasoned Jedi.

Still, they posed enough of a threat that they were connected to an actual Sith Lord of terrible power from an age long since forgotten by the wider galaxy. That itself was worrisome to her.

"So, these cultists," Jaden mulled out, trying to fathom what was explained while flashing her silver eyes at Kyle's darkened orbs. "These acolytes...they're not _actual_ Sith?"

"Nah, they're nothing close to that," Kyle waved off dismissively, adding with a nostalgic grin. "Hell, I'd bet even the **Dark Jedi** I fought years back could wipe the floor with them. However, they were an elite group of those who fell off the path and became corrupt with power or ambition. This cult is probably doing something that is Sith related but none of them have any real potential to grow or learn, like us Jedi do. It's why someone like you could best one of them in combat, just purely based on your ability to call upon the Force was far more adept than theirs."

"That's not all I felt, though," The Echani-blooded student countered in an eerie tone.

"What do you mean, kid?" He asked, smile replaced with a raised brow.

"Back then," She began to explain, looking to her lap and raising her hands to grip for emphasis. "When I took down the Stormtroopers, I didn't even feel his presence. It was like he wasn't all _there_. Or like he _was_ but something _else_ was in his place. I don't know how else to describe it but he felt like he wasn't fighting like I would; like something else was fighting for him."

"That's concerning," Kyle grimly confirmed, his brows furrowing as the horizon unfolded before his gaze. "Must have something to do with the traces of the Dark Side aura vanishing from the Massassi temple. Don't know what else they're doing but it can't be good."

"Is it possible for this Dark Side to poison you?" She asked, almost regretfully as her teeth bit into her lower lip. Her eyes tried to dart away from being looked at but she could feel her face pale, more than thought possible. Given the palpable silence that dragged on, she shivered out as she tried to dismiss it. "N-Nevermind-"

"No neverminds when you ask such a pertinent question," Kyle sternly spoke, making her feel like she was being scolded by a parent or an uncle. Looking over carefully at him, he locked eyes with her and asked plainly. "What makes you say that?"

"I just...I felt something when I got struck by that cultist's staff-"

"Is that how you ended up on the ground?"

"Let me finish!" She exclaimed, making Kyle raise a hand in understanding. Turning to look at the horizon, she clenched her hands on her knees, explaining the horrid nightmare she experienced. "I felt like, every dark thought and emotion I've had in my life that's been bottled up just engulfed me at once. I was drowning, suffocating and going numb from how just just horrid I was feeling. If I hadn't felt something call out to me, helping me connect back to the Force, I'd never...never..."

"Hey, Jaden," Kyle shook her shoulder, rending her out of her stupor. As her paled face looked wide-eyed at him, he stared seriously back at her without a hint of snark in his voice. "What did I say about telling me anything? If you were dealing with something this serious, I would've at least let you recuperate at the Academy before taking a mission. I had no idea you had this kind of burden on you."

"I-I can't sleep well just yet," She explained, her face turning to look down once again. "Everything's moving so fast. Just yesterday I experienced my first lightsaber fight, both with a cultist and a runaway droid, and became your student in the Jedi Academy. I don't know what to think about all of this just yet. I don't think I should just bottle this all up but I can't figure out what I should do with this responsibility either."

"Relax," The Master said to his pupil, keeping a gentle grip on her shoulder, not wavering in his gaze towards her visage. "Take deep breaths. Don't think too hard about all of this, okay? I meant what I said that this is just a life of a Jedi, and it wasn't hyperbole."

"But can I handle it?!" She asked him, turning her platinum braided head to look at him with a near desperate yearning for confirmation. "I just had to deal with a horde of crazy desert people who wanted to kill me with clubs and sticks! For a droid!"

"Me too; though it was at my old home, and it also had giant flying bugs to boot," He boasted, grinning at her wryly as she just stared doe-eyed at him. "You're doing great, far better than I could imagine for someone who's lived a whole life in Coruscant's Undercity. There's no shame in feeling a little pride in your accomplishments, just don't let ego or your doubts keep you down. I have faith that you can help me in this mission, otherwise I wouldn't have asked in the first place."

"O-okay," She shakily replied, taking the prescribed breaths her master told her to have. In and out. The Force itself seemed to fill her up as she concentrated on being relaxed. Even as she felt tired from her mission with the stowed away droid, the short rest she's had on this flight was restoring her in more ways than one. Even her confession about her nightmare did wonders to help boost her wavering confidence.

"I'm okay," She said again.

"You're sure?" Kyle asked back with a look of concern.

"Y-Yeah," Jaden shakily confirmed with a more positive smile on her face. "Thanks, Kyle. For the talk and, well, everything so far."

"Told you today was going to be a big day," He chuckled with a wink. "I'll tell you what. After we're done here, I'll make sure you get some time to relax and take a breather. Just so you can dial it back and soak it in. You'll get some time to tinker whatever you want and learn some essential Jedi reading Luke want you to have."

"That sounds nice," The teenager sighed with closing eyes, leaning back in her seat. "Tinkering sounds real nice."

"Don't get too comfy," Kyle warned her, causing her eyes to warily open. The vista changed into a sprawling city of beige colored buildings, spanning for a good distance and far outstripping anything the settlement she saw abandoned in the canyon was. Angling the ship towards the spaceport, he informed her with a glint of mischief. "We're here."

* * *

Mos Eisley. A hive of scum and villainy none could find anywhere in the galaxy; apart from Nar Shadda, that is. Such a place served as a hot spot for commerce of all the most illicit kinds. No longer monitored by the Empire, the pirate activity returned back to its most vibrant and the energy filled once again with decadence and carnal vices of all sorts. None could predict just how much, but if the word about mercenaries being connected to the Disciples of Ragnos are to be believed, it'd definitely explain their presence here.

Docking in place, Kyle greeted a short rotund creature with a shirt barely keeping its disproportionately small upper body covered while its gut hung out with disturbing jiggles. Doing her best to not stare -or gag from the smell it was letting out- they paid the brief parking fee and began to maneuver through the open space. Unlike more civilized worlds, the spaceport they were docked at was a simple permacrete walled ring with various equipment and crates strewn around the perimeter, with a few doorways either at the northwest, northeast or southeast junctions.

Heading through the southeast, they walked out of one dock and into another, leading to a peculiar site.

"Well I'll be," Her Master whistled out, his head cocked up with hers at an aged wreck of a freighter. With a disc shaped hull it had a jamming dish propped on its starboard front side, not far away from a tubular cockpit while the front had a cut space of ten meters or more into the middle of the chassis. It was on its four landing gear legs, docked in place with no sign of anybody else hanging around.

"What is it?" She asked, her eyes curiously sweeping the decrepit vessel with wonderment what made this hunk of junk so special. Even starships that navigated in the lower levels she occupied didn't look this banged up.

"Ship of some old friends of mine from the Republic," He explained, stopping short to look around, eyeing the glass of the cockpit in between his search. "Han! Chewie! Huh, guess nobody's home."

"We might bump into them at the cantina," Jaden suggested with a gesture of her hand. "After all, they usually have these parking spaces home to one if nothing else but to get easy customers."

"Good thinking," Kyle nodded with agreement. "Let's keep looking around for a bit. I got a feeling we might be in the right place."

Traversing out of the landing pad into another proximate space, a broader range of vessels were docked on their respective spots. They were smaller, rounder and had visible weapons protruding from the curled front of the bent wings they had. Colored in a deep maroon with no distinguishing marks to tell if they were from one group or another, yet identical to each other, it was safe to say the black film covered shielding on the cockpits did more than simply obscure the pilots.

"No question about it," The bearded man intoned with a quick walk past each ship's nose to the other side of the dock. "These are mercenary ships. Loratus TC9 transports to be exact."

"Perfect to use in contract warfare," Jaden affirmed with a look, feeling that was the intention of mounted weapons on a transport.

"Yeah, our guys are probably here. Though none of them are even around to greet us," He stated, almost muttering the last words as he looked up at the control tower that dictated landing and departures for vessels in this area of Mos Eisely. She could tell he was troubled, his expression shifting ever-so slightly to keep an eye all around the docking bay. His dark eyes met hers for a brief moment before continuing to scope it out, clearly on guard for something in hiding.

Reaching a roofed corner where the spaceport's exit lied, he stopped short, turning to look at her head on. "Look, I need you to stay here and guard the entrance to the docking bay. If anyone tries to leave or get in, detain them. I'll head over to the Krayt Cantina; I know some people there."

"So you're leaving me here? Alone?" She asked, indignantly with a hidden impulse to balk at him.

"I promise there won't be Sand People waiting to jump out of the dark corners," He joked, exiting the automatic door and waving her off. "I won't be gone long."

With a shut door, she soon found herself playing the waiting game.

Daring not to wander away from the exit, she fiddled with her weapons, checking her ammunition and supplies. From her count she had three thermal detonators, 3 Energy Cell packs for her rifle, two for her pistol, and some power cartridges for the Disruptor. It wasn't a whole lot if it came to a firefight, meaning she'd have to rely on her lightsaber and the Force to make up the difference; that or loot bodies should it come to it.

Having been only ten minutes, Jaden's thoughts on picking corpses suddenly was shaken at the sounds coming from outside. The thunderous clap of a high caliber weapon was being launched, while the familiar ripping of small arms rifles pinged and cracked the other side of the barrier. The prior sound was getting closer while the other ones came intermittent, with some dying off and others firing infrequently to each other.

Grabbing her lightsaber, she heard the sound of footsteps just on the other side of the door. Jumping forward in a dexterous roll, she twisted around in a rising crouch, her back against the wall next to the exit. A hissing rise of the bronze colored plating clicked next to her, the whipping sound of a formidable weapon was let loose while concerned bellows were heard by its wielder. Rushing to the other side, she twisted around and aimed her blade at a tall, bipedal carpet armed with a bandoleer of ammunition and grenades with a bowcaster held in hand.

"HRR-RAAAAAAAAAH!" The Wookie howled out in surprise, the alarm dictating that he was momentarily startled as his weapon rose up to take aim at the lightsaber wielding character. But, seeing as she didn't strike him immediately and wielded a weapon of such peerless color, he lowered his high caliber blaster, gutturally inquiring of her an imperative question.

"Jedi? Me?" Jaden questioned, recognizing the inflection in the beast from Kashyyyk. She had a very loud, boisterous and quite ill tempered neighbor who was a Wookie, and thanks to Meelik, she was able to make out the general gist of their conversations through trial and error studying. She remembered one too many bottles and scrap thrown at her whenever she accidentally spoke ill to the aged mammal.

Shaking her head, however, she pointed to herself for emphasis, "I'm just a student. I came here with my Master, Kyle Katarn. What are you doing here?"

"Rrrrrrraaaaaaa-brrrrrrrraaah!"

"Leia Organa? Sounds important," Jaden stated the obvious, if only to make herself feel better that she got the meaning of his language. She wondered if this was one of the 'Han and Chewie' pair Kyle had mentioned. She could make an educated guess as to which one this imposing figure was, but she dared not ask. Raising a hand, she began to explain her intentions. "Kyle went to go talk with the locals, scope out things regarding mercenaries and this Cult of Ragnos that was seen operating around here. That commotion wouldn't happen to be their doing, would it?"

Shrugging, Chewbacca snorted with ignorance.

"Well, until that firefight dies down, let's head back to one of our ships for cover," She proffered, earning another indifferent snort from the co-pilot of the Falcon. The pair walked on out, taking the hallway from the exit back towards one of the landing pad rings up ahead. Passing by a wall of crates and packaging, she'd catch an eye at a Rodian, clutching a pistol in hand with readiness...

...that took off running when it saw both the lit saber and a sudden roaring Wookie.

"Holo-dust, I don't think we can get back," She muttered lowly, her eyes already seeing a few figures not far away come out of doors and around piles of crates. Chewie growled out why and the sudden pinging sound of horribly missing blaster bolts popped near her head, forcing her to raise her weapon in a defensive angle. "That's why!"

"BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Chewie bellowed out, unleashing a salvo of emerald lit shots from his trusty bowcaster. From his weapon he sent out green twisting currents of plasma outward, radically charring and scorching through the crate or box covers of a host of alien enemies. Unlike the Tusken Raiders she had dealt with hours ago, these pirates seemed all too keen of keeping out of the way of the angry Wookie's attacks.

Something only the previously seen Rodian didn't think about when he tried to take a potshot at incensed co-pilot, receiving an emerald blast that struck him in the chest. Jaden balked at how he flew back from the momentum of the projectile, crashing into the face of one of the docked mercenary ships with bone shattering force. As pings of incoming blaster fire neared her, she was brought back out of her daze, rushing out into the fray while Chewbacca gave her cover.

Employing the Force, she deflected any shots that got too close for comfort -that weren't busy trying to hit the crate covered Wookie attacking them- while sprinting across the pad's open center. Three goons that were hidden behind some spaceship parts began converging fire, away from Chewie, as they saw the alabaster bladed enemy approaching with haste. To their dismay, the bolts were reflected, nearly hitting them in showers of popping sparks around the permacrete overhanging ceiling and the wall behind them.

Then, came the lethal strokes. A taller pirate, a bipedal reptilian Trandoshan wearing a flight suit, was felled by an over the shoulder two handed slash from its right shoulder down to the side with its talon-adjoined wrist. Gurgling out with a death throe, it'd fall to the ground as Jaden deflected more proximate shots, these taking down a Rodian and a dread-locked alien she didn't recognize.

Meanwhile, she heard other more human cries of pain and outrage in the greater open landing pad. Turning around she ran out in to the clearing and saw what she assumed was something related to the Cult of Ragnos. They wore a singular uniform, hiding their individual facets of their appearances with only burgundy-brown coats, pants and boots with metal slits covering their eyes fixed into rounded helmets of sorts. Wielding E-11's, they were firing at the Wookie, only to receive a spread-shot of multiple spiraling plasma straight into their abdomens and upper torsos, flinging them backward from the impact alone.

Meeting her out of the shade for a moment, another Trandoshan let loose a burst of Repeater bolts his way, causing him to growl in a backpedal. Jaden assisted him, rushing in and spinning her blade to deflect the shots in a sporadic discharge everywhere but the attacker. Not until Chewie fired an emerald bolt that ricocheted from a distant crate and struck his head, startling Jaden from the crackshot that was pulled off.

Turning to gape at Chewie, he gave a brief cheeky grin that made her just blink.

"Uh, right," She deadpanned out, suddenly sensing another shot come from the divide. Even though she was able to reflect the shot, she could feel like the empty pad full of bodies would soon become populated again. Looking to her new furry friend, she suggested with a nod to him. "Any ideas?"

"Hrrrrraaaaaaaugh!" He gutturally insisted with a point of his weapon at a nearby door from the shaded overhang.

"Good idea. We'll be not such easy targets indoors," She agreed, remembering how she had to escape the Sand People in tunnels to avoid being mobbed.

Exiting together through the broad rusty doorway, they'd find themselves within a broad storage space that was used to funnel equipment from one part of the hangar to the other. Immediately on entry, the left divider of the stacked equipment was another Trandoshan, of smaller stature but wielding a Repeater in hand. She deflected the cascading golden bolts allowing Chewie to nail him in the end with a well-placed hip shot, sending his mangled body crashing into a crate behind him.

This earned the sound of a pair of Cultist mercenaries, rushing around the bend of a door-less corridor and began burst-firing through the hole. It was blind shooting and thankfully it was something that'd sap their ammo real quick, keeping Jaden and Chewie safe behind a menagerie of cover. Reaching for a Thermal Detonator, she licked her lips as she wound up her hand and gave it a good overhand toss; striking the arch just above their head before dropping on top of them.

A pair of screams were overshowered with a thermal blast that blew apart permacrete, spitting shards of machinery stacked nearby. Rushing out from the hall around another bend, the pair were then subjected to what she saw was the other end of the hangar where more mercenary ships were docked along with over two dozen armed pirates. Gritting her teeth, she disengaged her weapon and began unslinging her rifle, firing back while keeping close to Chewie, his own ferocious bellows let loose as he kept firing at enemies that got too far from cover.

It was a maddening firefight. Had she not had Clairvoyance in sensing danger from the Force, she knew she'd have been picked off by at least one stray shot by now. She didn't even have a top of the line energy shield that more sophisticated commandos and the vanguards of armies possessed. Her clothes helped with basic protection but it wasn't immune to blasterfire; and she assumed while tough, the Wookie was prone to being a big target by his very nature.

Embracing a flurry of the Force, she pulled her blaster pistol out with her E-11 in hand, simply shouting, "Cover me!" as she rushed out into the thick of it. She was moving far faster than any singing lance of light could hit her, nor could be followed by the cacophony of projectiles launched by Repeaters and the other bowcasters. She unleashed a burst from both weapons in hand, nailing Cult mercenaries, pirates and goons alike, cutting them down far quicker than if she went to cut each one with a lightsaber.

By the time her Force's 'Speed' run ended, she had nailed easily ten of them that were scattered around cover. Chewie had been picking them off in clusters to hidden pockets, thanks to his 'caster's ricochet feature and its spread-shot mode. The power of his weapon ensured even a single bolt would spell instant death to the smaller humanoids. A hail of thermal detonators began to fly out, beeping with select 5 second intervals from a nearby overhead ramp that was out of reach, targeting the Jedi student-

-only to be shot in mid air, causing a chain reaction that led back to the three-eyed Grans that were standing too close to each other. A thunderous domino effect of searing heat and explosions tore through the upper terrace, creating an enormous hole between the upper terrace of the hangar wall and showering debris into a corridor beneath it.

"Holo-dust, Chewie's trick shots are scary!" Jaden remarked, smiling halfway as she turned to give him a thumb's up. He did so in return, though roaring out in alarm as a distant group of footsteps triggered alarm along her scalp. Focusing for a few seconds on Force Sense, she could see just beyond the far shaded lot of cover came a new dozen, this time armed with bowcasters, repeaters and one with a rocket launcher. Gritting her teeth, she retreated back to Chewie, holstering her weapons and retrieving her defused lightsaber as she tumbled out of the way of a fresh spray of enemy fire.

"There's no end to them! We got to get back to our ships," She insisted, getting an affirmed whine from the Wookie. Igniting her saber, she stood up and deflected an array of shots, doing her best to provide a defensible target so her current fight buddy wouldn't get hurt. This didn't seem to bother him, as he continued to let loose blindfire and over the cover bursts at the enemy, taking less than secure enemies that weren't as smart to hug their cover.

Then, something else added to the current predicament of the pair.

A whirring sound was being emitted from what looked like a projector arm from the control tower. It lanced out wavy rays towards different partitions of the hangar, though specifically aimed in the direction she knew where it belonged. Grimacing, she felt as if the whole planet wanted to kill her every time Kyle left her side.

Defusing her blade, she looked over to Chewie and shouted over the cascade of noisy shots sent their general direction, "I'm going to knock down the tractor beams so we can get to our ships! You think you can handle them while I'm gone?!"

"RRRRR-RRRR-ROWR!" He growled in verbose affirmation.

"Fair enough," She acknowledged his dangerous potential. Taking her moment to shuffle out of the nearest doorway the sound of a rocket propelling was vaguely heard. Leaping forward in a somersault she rolled out of the way of the impending explosion, sealing her way back to the Wookie. A shower of debris, molten metal and permacrete piled up behind her, and she stood up away from it with relative no harm.

"At this rate, I'm going to get killed by some rock hitting my head," She mused, knowing how many times she's fled explosions was starting to add up.

Persisting onward, she found the less populated interior was less dangerous than a potentially clustered outside. Sneaking up on enemies, she could easily ignite her blade and take them off guard through a nifty application of the Force quieting her steps. It was only through some experimentation that she learned that, while Speed was a given, why not inverse it and make yourself slower to enhance stealth?

It only worked so well, having to resort to a blatant charge to disarm and finish off more of these Cult mercs that she encountered. Entering one corridor to another, she encountered what she perceived was a loose collection of pirates that were assembled by the mercs as additional bodies. None of them displayed any tactical cohesion and simply fired at whatever they thought was their enemy; it gave the blossoming student a chance to wield the Force in experimental means along with giving her more combat experience.

Coming up to a staircase, she was led back outside, having to deal with the consequences of the thermal blast that was caused from the Gran before. It was a massive hole with a distance far greater than last. Realizing she'd be under fire and jumping short could result in delay, she decided to merge two Core abilities into one. Rushing at a sprint, she'd propel herself off the edge of the upper walkway near the pit's circumference.

Then, she leaped with a boost of speed applied.

It was an exhilarating and equally terrifying moment for her. She could very well have failed or overwhelmed her body but no, she was almost flying upwards. In a nearly disorienting blur, she aimed her flailing legs down to catch herself in a crouch on the other side, skidding ever-so slightly on her heels. Catching herself by the chest, she pressed forward and into the doorway that'd access the control tower.

There it was, devoid of the usual personnel and now comprised of a handful of the Cultist mercenaries. With a flash of her lightsaber she deflected and carried herself from one target to the other, taking care to ensure she avoided what she could not defend against. Cutting a swathe through their formation, she thought there were too few of them to be in the tower and that there must be another obstacle above. Within this tight circular space was an elevator that'd take her to the actual control room that operated the whole of the hangars.

Entering in, she felt a slight jolt as she was swiftly accelerated up. Exiting, she saw no one around but could feel an unerring Sense that something sinister was nearby. Shaking her head, she walked up and saw the Millennium Falcon, docked below with a handful of mercenaries and pirates still occupying the space in wait.

"Alright, it's this lever," She pulled on what looked like an emergency lever. A droning whir transpired over her head, the projector arm sticking above the viewing screen fading its radiating its waves dimmed till no energy was emitted. Smiling to herself, she spoke aloud her thoughts as she'd walk into the next room. "Ok, the Falcon is free. Now to free the Runner-"

Standing on the other side was a familiar figure of menace.

Draped in the same orange-brown robes with a black mask and pair of boots was an Acolyte, igniting its blade in a spinning revolution of crimson light. The sensation she felt of a distant wrongness was deeper, and most connected thanks to her own refined connection to the Force. The Cultist's powers felt almost warped, in some way; like it was gifted with a power rather than accessing it on his own.

Whatever the case was, it stood purposefully in her way and didn't seem to maneuver in any way to accept her passage.

"I'll give you one chance," Jaden intoned, igniting her own peerless sword of light in a hissing thrum, held down at an angle in just one hand. Raising it up to be held in two, she focused on this battle and nothing else, as her words gave a proper warning. "Surrender, and I won't have to end you."

"My powers come from a far greater place than yours do, Jedi," The Acolyte sneered back.

As if to demonstrate that, he thrust his hand out, unleashing a wave of telekinetic force that struck her bodily.

"Ngh!" She grunted with a meter launching fall, thudding to the ground. Rolling away to the right, she narrowly avoided a crimson boomerang of energy, pushing herself in a dexterous palm-thrust leap to her feet in a spin. When the blade was called back to his grip, the Acolyte didn't follow, intent on holding the advantage of himself being in a space of his own choosing; and to her, objectively important.

Focusing, she returned to the doorway, this time braced for an incoming Push that was deflected by a ghostly wind that circled around her front. Vanishing as quickly as it came, she rushed forward with a diagonal overarching blows that circled from one to the next, aggressively pushing him away from the doorway in a dozen clashes. Breaking from the engagement with a sidestep, he cartwheeled away from her, throwing his saber back to delay her approach.

Parrying the weapon, it spun around in the air and returned back to the Acolyte's grip, his body landing gracefully on the ground. From this point she could observe the environment. There was a similar ovular entrance lacking a doorway that led from one group of parked mercenary ships and the one beyond that she knew from the outline was her transport. The lever was just behind her opponent, and he began to taunt her by spinning the saber above her palm in telekinetic showmanship.

"My powers surpass yours, Jedi!" He crowed out. Once again, he sought to back up his words and drew upon the Force, causing the equipment to his left -unseen by Jaden- to rumble and spark out of control. In a loud screech of metal and permacrete, he called upon a control panel of a nearby system off its bolts; then proceeded to smash it through the wall in a hail of debris back at Jaden.

Acting out of reflex, Jaden backed up and raised both hands up in defense, her eyes closing in preparation to have her strength undone through this one attack. But, a familiar self imposed heat surged to the surface of her skin and the incoming damage wasn't felt. Opening her eyes, she looked down to see the wall's debris and the computer had been smashed to pieces, curling around her in a semi-circle of junk as a pulsing emerald light thrummed gently over her form. She knew now this was the ability that manifested when she was hurled from the ship, and was struck by the stave's wave of Dark Side energy; it was a barrier, a shell of the Force that protected her from damage.

Howling with rage, the Acolyte threw his weapon at her in another spinning arc to cut her down from a distance.

This time, Jaden saw the weapon as nothing more than a piece of debris that he had thrown telekinetically. A thrust of her own glowing hand, she sent the weapon flying backward towards the Acolyte; nearly cutting him down as he cartwheeled out of the way.

An accidental incident happened, however. The blade didn't stop its momentum and cut deep into the lever, destroying the mechanism that held the tractor beams on Yavin Runner II. A distorted thuum was heard as the power went out for it, as nothing was keeping it controlled. Grinning at this, she felt her Protection wither away and her body felt heavier than anticipated.

"Guess I never tested it while conscious," She recounted, seeing the Acolyte seethe with anger at her fortunate maneuver. Despite sweating across the face and down her neck, she jeered at him with her smile, raising her blade up in readiness to fight.

"You'll pay for that!" He threatened, calling upon the blade an arching revolution from the sparking console back to his hand. Not even bothering with an acrobatic finesse he had been showcasing, he lunged himself as high as the ceiling allowed. He brought the blade over his head to cut through the material in a line of molten orange as he readied to bring his whole weight over her silver braided crown.

"DIE!"

That was the only word he uttered before she dialed the weapon's length and leaned to the right in a left over right stroke. The result was a massive two and a half meter peerless blade of silver cutting through the lower half of the handle of the Acolyte's weapon and through his waist. In finishing her swing, she heard a pained gargle just as he smashed into the ground with a rattling impact. By the time she stood up and turned around to face him, he was already dead, with blood pooling from his seared halves.

Curious, she walked over to what she saw was the damaged weapon. It sparked ineptly, unable to provide a proper balance of power without its conduit to the crystal within. But, she swore she thought she saw the exact weapon was used by the acolyte she fought on Yavin IV.

"Why are they so similar?" She wondered out loud, taking the damaged weapon and examining its craft. The same sleek black-grey design was applied in almost a streamlined creation. Was someone funneling them out in bulk? It made her shiver that there were many more acolytes with Force powers, and that anymore than one of them would be difficult to handle on her own.

Shoving it into her jacket's inner pocket, she took the elevator down and navigated her way back to the previously locked down paths to meet back up with Chewbacca. He warbled out with glee to see his Jedi friend had survived, and nodded her to come back with her. Simply gesturing him to lead on, they went back to the Millennium Falcon, finishing off the last of the Cult's hired goons in an exchange of lightsaber reflection and bowcaster shots.

Almost as quickly as it started, it ended. Jaden let out a breath of relief as she hung her defused weapon on her belt and found a good place to lean upon near the Falcon while the Wookie slung his bowcaster back over his shoulder, doing his best to check on the ship and see if it was still functioning. The whole day wore on her, and she could now feel what was two missions' worth of work now making her rely on the Force just to keep up and around.

The sound of Kyle's footsteps brought her silver eyes to look appreciatively and irritably as he walked in with not a sign of conflict worn on his collar.

"Oh," Kyle intoned with a dry sound of surprise, stepping over bodies and looking at them with feigned interest, gesturing with both arms with a half smile. "Did I miss the party and not know about it?"

"Your Cantina a kilometer away? The entire hangar was locked down," Jaden indignantly stated with a befuddled look, reinforced by how sweaty and tired she appeared to be.

"I got caught up getting info from old friends, like I said," He insisted with a shrug. "Sorry if all fights on Mos Eisley sound the same in the background."

"BRAAAAAAAAWH-!" Chewie bellowed with surprise, having turned from checking on the Falcon's landing gear and underbelly components. Approaching him, he warbled out apparent joy in his own Wookie way. "HRRRRRR-THRRRRRRAAAAAAW!"

"Haha, good to see you too, Chewie," Kyle admitted with a smile. "Guess these mercs didn't want any of us here, judging how you were dragged into this."

Without warning, Chewbacca reached out and grabbed Jaden by the arm, pulling her into a possessive hug as the other paw-like hand mussed her head. Flailing around in a fidgety panic, the Wookie let out a throaty chuckle, bark-laughing in between as it raised its long arms up to pump. She brushed herself and shuddered at the instant affectionate embrace, much to her master's amusement.

"Believe it or not, that's high praise, coming from a Wookie," Kyle explained with a humored grin.

"Uh," Jaden dully let out, looking to Chewie with confusion. "Thanks, I think?"

"These mercs weren't cheap," Kyle intoned, gesturing to the equipment strewn around for both pirate and the band's attire spread across the bodies. "Whoever hired them to do work, not just to take us out, but for Outer Rim jobs must have someone in the Cult packing deep pockets. Or worse, it's running back to the Remnant."

"That'd explain the exotic weaponry," Jaden replied, pulling out the damaged lightsaber for him to inspect. "And it would also explain how they can manufacture identical lightsabers for widespread use."

"Hmmmm, yeah it does look familiar," Kyle nodded with acknowledgement, not bothering to take it from her -much to her relief-. Looking back to Chewbacca, he then asked with a gesture of his gloved hands. "Listen, we got to get back to the Academy with this news and a droid we picked up earlier. Can you tell Leia about the Cult? I'm sure she can get in touch with some people in the New Republic to make some good calls to mobilize against this new faction."

"BRRRRRRAAAAAAAAATTTTTTHAAAAAAAAA!" He rang his throaty dialect out to the Jedi Master.

"If he hadn't shown up when he did," Jaden began to say, getting a brow raised look from Kyle. "I wouldn't have been able to pull this off."

"Well, from the way he puts it, you certainly held your own," Kyle praised openly with a grin. "Nice work. How about we head on back and get you that break I've been promising ya?"

After the day she's been through, Jaden was all too happy to have one.

* * *

 **A/N** : And here's Chapter 5! This is a favorite mission in mind, if only for Fanservice reasons. While this probably might not be the most thrilling chapter to write, I was able to showcase some humor and awesomeness from Chewie; guy deserves more love than he gets. The layout didn't get as much description as I wanted but it's kind of a generically designed base to describe. Most of Mos Eisley is that way so it's just how the dice fall, I suppose. The fight with the acolyte, as always, is one of my favorites and I had a lot of fun demonstrating the difference in mindset and skill, along with delivering Force Protection at the right opportunity.

Next time, we might get a little bit of an interim chapter where Jaden takes time to settle down and get used to being a student at the Academy. Might introduce some new characters while I'm at it, populate the Academy as a whole and make it more fleshed out. I have a fun next mission in mind that might be teased in the next chapter so, look forward to that.

Other than that, hope you all liked it and see you all in the next update!


	7. Chapter 7 - Academic Adaptation

The light was warm.

That was all she could perceive when surrounded in a seemingly empty black void. Curled around in this space, she felt the serene peace being huddled around this majestic light. She could just listen to the melody of its ringing, the caresses of its whispers and the softness of its glow forever. Here, in the light of the Force, she was kept from being hounded by the nightmares in the dark.

 _Hungry._

 _Clawing._

 _Gnashing._

 _Hissing._

They lied in wait like beasts of prey, eager to devour her whole and let loose fangs that'd sink deep into her core. That feeling of being bathed in pure negativity was nothing but Hell for her. Shrouded in a cold shell where she felt nothing but bitterness and a revolting anger that did nothing but harm herself. She was alone, empty and bereft of any contact; her worst fears came to light and only through a sliver of hope that she emerged from that abyss.

Still, she wasn't unaware of its yearning, its lust for her to fall again in its dark embrace. Giving into her passions, leading to an unstoppable wave of pain and misery that'd inevitably follow. Boring through her, it'd promise sweet nothings but always deliver short. She had that instinct to realize this was a road that nothing good can come from...yet...she still wondered...

...what voluntary surrender to her basest pleasures would be like?

"Jaden?"

A voice caused her to lurch out of her slumber, her body letting loose a loud clanging of parts and pieces of machinery she had immersed herself into the previous night. The knock on her room came again, as she had always kept it locked to anybody not given permission. Crawling out of the pile of assembled scrap, she unfastened a part of her Peace Dome and rolled forward onto the floor in a tumble.

"Are you alright?" The voice questioned again, with distant mutterings of someone else in the backdrop.

Groaning she began to stretch, feeling pops come out her back, neck and shoulders. Sighing, she made sure she was decent, putting a brown red-striped leather jacket over her grease stained sleeveless tank top. With her legs already fit into a pair of blue pants, she walked barefooted over to the door and unlocked the panel, opening it all the way.

Causing her to see the Sunlight of Yavin's morning glare straight past the pair of figures.

"Agh! Bright! Too bright!" She exclaimed, grimacing as she raised a hand to cover her blinking eyes.

"You do realize it's almost noon here, right?" One of the background voices asked.

"Shut up," The forward figure cried out over her shoulder. As the glare of the late morning cleared, Jaden could tell who this was. It was the first student to be called upon and placed under tutelage of Master Mara Jade, Ral Theron. Behind her were the other two students that were paired up with her, seemingly having nothing to occupy their time at the moment and decided to wake her up.

This wasn't the first time, since she returned from the missions she took on by the Academy at Tatooine.

It had been over a week, in fact, since she took time to familiarize herself with the Jedi's texts, documents and other forms of knowledge that'd better help prepare her for her future work as an initiate. During the interim, not only did she get to speak to a few Jedi Masters and some Knights in passing, but the students began to warm up to her odd but endearing personality. She knew some by name and others by face, but the ones that had sought out her for companionship was those who served under Master Jade; someone whom she heard had received Jedi teaching from Kyle at some point in the past.

"Hey, Ral," Jaden replied, yawning groggily as she wiped one eye lazily. "No mission given to ya yet? Had to come wake me up?"

"Come on, Jaden, you've been cooped up in there since Sundown yesterday," She replied with an expressive gesture towards the awkward tent made over her bed, spilling out parts and such from where she presumably had slept. Eyeing it with a raised brow, she grinned with a raised finger pointed at the obvious nest she had made. "Don't tell me you like sleeping in your junk?"

"First, like I already told you, it's not junk. It's scrap," The Echani-blooded teenager corrected, now looking annoyed at the fellow student with visible irritation. "Secondly, I'm used to living in isolated spaces. My room's big enough to house seven people; ten if you're conservative."

"That's a normal sized room!"

"Not by my old living standards," Jaden answered the same loud mouth from the back, staring over Ral's right shoulder.

"Want to actually come out?" Ral asked with hands propped on her hips.

"Fine-Fine," She relented, turning her back on them to walk over and put on a few slip-on shoes. Twisting back around, they backed up to make room for her, allowing her to take in their appearances in full.

"Ready to take on the day, Jaden?" Jedi initiate Ral Theron asked with a smile that was dubious of Jaden's enthusiasm.

She herself was a Zabrak, her horns protruding at slight hooked angles upward in a few inches apart from each other along her uncovered forehead. With one at the center making five, a pair of larger horns sprawled up from front flanks of her crown's top. This allowed a set of head piece silver enamored emerald gems to loop around the top horns, glittering silver chains in a hair-net over her black crown, leading back to a jewel encrusted high-rise ponytail that hung freely all the way to the middle of her back.

Her face, armed with an olive pigmentation, her bright viridescent orbs shined like the trees and lakes of Yavin IV, with a series of arching tattoos common among her kind splayed across her face. Like currents of rivers that arched from her forehead down in spiraling arches down her strong jawline over her supple cheeks her rounded nose, then looping up over back of her cheekbones, they were predominately colored cyan; while the shadowing around her eyes and over her nasal cavity to just a dash above and below her lips were a striking gold.

Ral's apparel was that of a standard Jedi's apparel, that being of cream colored robes with black outlines along the arms and pants, with a hood left loose over her shoulders. With boots strapped up to her shins, her lightsaber of the training variety on her hip -much like her colleagues- she looked like she was well awake many hours ago.

"I'm ready," Jaden intoned, stifling another yawn with a shake of her head, looking at the other pair with visible interest. "Did you guys do anything earlier?"

"Just some training at one of the grounds," Explained the louder of the three, Cale V'eel. He was a Miralukan, with his eyes covered by a black blast shield visor, with red rims that covered it all the way to the back of his head. He had reddish-orange hair, slicked back in a smooth comb over, with his skin being of a natural fair tone while having a relatively sharp-soft visage that can be seen. Unlike Rosh, he had a taller and more proportionately built, being six feet in height, he was perhaps the most statuesque of the three. Apart from the visor, he wore a brown flight jacket over his black undershirt, with a holo-disc necklace hung around his neck and a cargo pocketed pair of grey baggy pants to ankle high plated flight boots. His own training saber was worn horizontally to his belt below his lower back, magnetically locked to his belt.

Continuing to make blunt observations, he gestured at her with emphasis, "Hey, at least you could take the chance to co-op with the other students at the training grounds. Just because Rosh and Kyle are part of your team, doesn't mean you need to make us drag you out and nobody else."

"She wishes to be alone, and be at peace," Ral insisted with a head turn at the man, whom simply gave a humored grin and a shrug. Shaking her head, she looked at Jaden sympathetically. "There's nothing wrong with having alone time. But Cale does have a point. Perhaps more socialization can do you some good beyond the bare minimum?"

"I'm just getting used to everything," The platinum haired semi-human replied, answering with an endearing smile back at her fellow initiate. "I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine. I just need to go at my own pace, like Kyle said."

" **I wish Jade was that way,** " The third member of the group finally spoke up, being a contrasting quiet voice of the three under Master Jade. Through a respirator mask of black metallic make-up was the black eye-lens, orange skinned Kel Dor, Dars Razz. Tumorous appearing growth from his vein propped skin spread from an ovular main crown to a pair of fruit shaped bulbs that act as ears on either side of his temple areas. He wore a navy blue tunic with golden tresses, with a similar pair of pants, his own training saber placed on his left side. He was a bit more lean in muscular proportion though he was still perhaps almost as tall as Cale was, despite how intimidating he appeared by his own racial appearance.

Still, his quiet voice echoed through his vocabulator installed in his air mask that filtered out the rich oxygen that most humanoid species can breathe with a passive grace, " **Master Jade pushes us pretty hard. Even if they're simple in make-up, her training and exercises for us are always meant to push us physically and mentally. It gets pretty exhausting.** "

"He does bring a good point," Cale intoned with a gesture at Ral. "Jade does like to whip us in shape."

"Well, we do have a lot of duties to uphold," The Zabrak intoned with a jingling turn of her jeweled head to look between Jaden and herself. "Especially with the appearances of that Sith Cult going around."

"The Disciples?" Jaden inquired, earning a sage nod from her fellow student.

" **Thankfully, we haven't faced any personally. Just a run-in with some of their mercenaries,** " The Kel Dor intoned with a slight turn of his three-prong digits. " **They're a tough bunch, but none of them use the Force.** "

"I heard acolytes are being seen accompany them more and more frequently," Cale pointed out with an emphatic wave of his hands. "The Knights have talked about encountering a handful here and there. Some of them escaping, some of them dying. No one has been able to take one captive just yet, but they're usually putting themselves in those kinds of situations on purpose."

"There can't be that many Force users on their side, right?" Ral turned, looking at Jaden with bewilderment as she brought the question up. "I mean, there's always been people who can use it, but this many being part of a Sith Cult? It seems almost suspicious that they keep appearing and don't seem to be stopping in their reveal of more and more in their ranks."

"I get the feeling whatever they were doing here, has something to do with that," Jaden proffered with her own raised hand. She almost regretted it, as all eyes turned on her, making her flinch a bit at so much attention. Still, she persevered with a shake of her head and waved her hands at them. "I mean, think about it. Before, the Cult operated in anonymity before we came to the Academy. Once we crashed here, now there's more and more of them? That doesn't seem like a coincidence."

"I never thought of it like that," Cale craned his head at an angle, rubbing his chin while rolling his tongue from one cheek to the other. "Huh, I guess they were planning something here when they saw us coming. Who knows how long they were waiting, right?"

" **That, or more disturbingly,** " Dars suggested with a shiver in his form, radiating from his respirator's audio. " **Someone inside the Republic tipped off the Cult in advance.** "

"You think a Remnant Spy was in on it?" Ral asked her teammate's audacious claim.

" **Who knows? For all we could understand, they probably sensed us coming in the Force. Dark Side or not, I can't imagine it's out of the question for their kind to do if one's strong enough,** " He suggested with with a gesture to their Miralukan associate. " **You understand, right? Being a Seer of the Force and all, I mean.** "

"I see through the Force, yes," Cale readily explained, though huffed as he placed his hands behind his head nonchalantly as he rebuttled the comparison to his fellow disciple. "But reading the future or sensing someone from a distance is an entirely different dimension. One might as well rob the Force from the planet itself and be called a Sith Lord compared to simply sensing somebody down the hall from here."

Rob the Force?

It was a curious turn of phrase that made Jaden wonder what happened over a week ago upon her crash landing at Yavin IV. The sensation of a loss of shadow, the darkness that dwelled within the temple she spied the trio doing with a staff had jogged her memory of it. Was it possible? To steal the essence of energy that left echoes within places of great horror or great sacred importance?

"Hey, Jaden?" Ral turned to talk to her, snapping her out of her dazed state. Looking at the three of them, the Zabrak could only smirk and shake her jeweled head with a humored grin. "Spacing out on us in mid-conversation? Man, you really are out of it."

"Just something you guys said," She admitted, furrowing her brow with concern. "I remembered something, back when I was separated from you guys that I saw those three. You know, the ones at the temple? I remember feeling something."

" **Like what?** " Dars asked, now leaning a bit more forward as the others looked on with rapt curiosity.

"Like the Dark Side, emanating from the temple," Jaden began to explain, looking nothing short of serious as she had her words laid bare for all those to hear. "Was disappearing, no, being stolen from that place. I think that was what they were doing; I just don't know how."

"That's quite the theory," The horned young adult licked her lips with her nervous acceptance to Jaden's explanation. "Any reason that is the case?"

"Other than waking up numb from what I can only describe as a Force nightmare?" She audaciously replied to her fellow student with a wide blinking pair of silver eyes. However, she relented with a sigh as she hung forward, placing a hand over her face to stretch it exaggeratedly over the skin. "Just a gut feeling that something wholly wrong was happening when I snuck a peek. They clearly didn't like what I was seeing, otherwise I wouldn't have been taken care of."

"Lucky you survived from a fall like that," Cale gestured with a wry grin, having been fully aware of the circumstances by now -if only thanks to Rosh embellishing the story to anybody within the Academy's walls-. Giving a playful nudge to Jaden's shoulder with his forearm, he smiled cheekily at her as he made an effort to wink with his right brow at her. "Guess that just makes you lucky, huh?"

"Well," She blushed a bit, rubbing her neck awkwardly, raising a free index finger for correction. "It was more like the Force was literally with me."

"Ha! I guess you're right!" Cale exclaimed, raising a hand up for her to to meet.

Rolling her eyes with Ral, Jaden reciprocated with a firm slap of her palm against his. The act itself was not just to be nice to one of the friendlier faces of the Academy, but that she enjoyed his brand of enthusiasm. It wasn't as overbearing as Rosh and it wasn't too dry like Kyle. In fact, she figured he wasn't too bad looking and if he wasn't physically blind, she wondered if the red-outlined black shielded visor armed Miraluka had a fancying towards her.

Suspicious of chemistry aside, she felt her stomach growl, earning a few pointed looks by the three fellow students. Holding her belly, she looked sheepishly at the others with silent confession of her hunger. It had been nearly noon to start of her exit from the quarters, and based on their conversation's length, it was perhaps easy to gauge that it was now the moon's noon cycle.

"I think we can all use something to eat," Ral decided for the group, having been the main head of their band of students under Mara's tutelage. With a round of nods, Jaden shrugged and joined them in a walk, continuing to talk about more mundane things than their earlier conversation.

Cale's interest in exploring the more mysterious sides of the moon and learning the history behind those that had come millennia before them was something that struck a chord with her. She had gone out to the training course Kyle designated for her and Rosh to use, looking over the various shrines and statues placed around in meticulous places, logging down their design by aesthetic and possible ritual practices; it was something she could share with the Miralukan and he was all too happy to gush over.

His own prodigious talents of the Force aside, she felt like behind his playful demeanor he was one of the most intelligent students in the Academy.

Ral was more or less enamored with particular lightsaber forms that the Jedi Masters had saved or discovered from lost records of the Old Jedi Order. While she was still getting used to her training saber, she was taking particular fascinating of the possibility of wielding some more challenging blades and learning the art of maneuvering not only properly but expertly with them. This was something Jaden wanted to understand herself as, from an explanation of her own Echani heritage, she had greater potential in learning the Jedi martial artistry of swordsmanship and imbuing her Force prowess in tune with her skill with a blade.

She wondered what it'd be like to cross blades with her for a sparring challenge, other than the droids she was now getting used to training against in the training grounds Kyle oversaw.

Dars was a more or less someone of an obscure oddity among most Force adepts that joined the Academy, and it showed in his soft mannerism despite his large, fearsome appearance. Raised as a disciple in the ways of the Baran Do Sages, it wasn't until his superiors had foresaw a great destiny beyond his work among their ranks that they sent him away to join the New Jedi Order. Having no reason to question their council, as their precognition had saved their people on countless crises -including their own escape from the Jedi Purge decades earlier- he came with little known desires or attachments.

From what his friends, master and Jaden knew, he didn't expand his goals beyond helping the innocent and extracting justice to ensure order was achieved in a balanced galaxy. The one thing he did find intriguing was technology out of the norm, of which there was plenty being used by the Academy. Having saw Jaden haul some scrap of the Academy's excess parts one day, he asked to watch and she allowed it for a few hours, thus creating an amusing distraction for the both of them. Some nights where he'd be allowed to watch Jaden tinker with things in the middle of her room before she'd retreat to her tent-erect bed for the night for more overnight machinist work.

During the exchange of their habitual talks related to their particular fancies and quirks, they took a turn by a more narrow corridor that possessed a carved open slab for them to receive a selection of foods and drinks. Grabbing some trays, they selected what they could eat and drink -with Dars being the one who had to be more particular than the rest- as they accepted their bounties and headed to one of the nearby fellowship halls. It wasn't a far walk, but it was the price to pay in retrofitting an old temple that was once used as a Rebel Headquarters.

There was no standard mess hall, and instead the rec room they chose was a well kept chamber with Sunlight cracking through ceiling adjacent slits in the stone. The centerpiece of the enclosure was an eroded slab of inscribed symbols wrapped around figures and a collective image of a once bygone age that came at the creation of this and the many other temples. It came as no surprise that this was in a similar iconography to the training grounds she had been to, and was unfortunately subjected to being placement for some of the scattered stool-bolted round tables spread across the room.

Along one wall was some booths, no doubt shipped in by the New Republic that was mirrored off designs of restaurants in more civilized worlds, with some occupied by conversing students and the spaces not used by seated pupils were a handful that stood up to make casual conversation. On the right was a selection of more restful spots, where among some recliner seats that a few took rests in -no doubt tired from a long day of training or coming back from a mission- but a few unoccupied lit beds. She had seen things of that sort and more or less a premium kind of 'Cocoon Chamber' where one could be washed over with warm or cold temperature with vibrations along the frame and sounds that can lead you into a tranquil trance; the kind of thing that Luke was more than likely talked into receiving for chambers such as these.

Choosing to sit near the back of the room, it was only through sheer happenstance that Jaden spotted Rosh walking up to one of the Premium Beds, leaning against it and facing one of Master Horn's students', Ben Hurr. While Rosh was dressed in his usual cream robe overlaid crimson and brown uniform, he looked a bit more cross than usual. Jaden could feel a disorder from him, even from this distance, by looking at his face as he began to make a not so subtle conversation that she could hear with the other three fellow students.

"So, how's your training going?" He began to inquire, his arms crossed over his chest and left leg crossed over the right in his lean against the cocoon chamber. "I've been sent on a few errands, nothing too exciting."

"Same here," Ben replied, a short haired older man in what Jaden could describe as someone in his later thirties, perhaps among the oldest of the students that came to the Academy. Still, his voice was hopeful and gentle, though did match the volume of Rosh's dialogue without worry as he saw nothing wrong with having a public conversation with a fellow pupil. Drawing a pair of hands from his lap, the brown and blue slim dressed disciple emphasized physically as he made an out loud speculation. "I guess that's how the training works. Small steps up, big pay-off later?"

"I thought it was just me," Rosh derisively snorted out. His gaze turned to look at Jaden, almost as if he knew she was in the room and he made a slight smile her way. As if without any thought to ask her to be properly included, she continued his loud conversation, drawing more eyes uncomfortably from other tables and standing bodies of the rec room to him. "Ever wonder if your master is holding you back? You know, making sure you don't become _too_ powerful?"

Jaden bit her lip in reflex, already feeling a gut sensation what Rosh was doing was wrong. She wasn't the only one, as Ral seemed to fix a pair of eyes that glared daggers at him, turning her head to look over her shoulder from her seat at the round table near the back of the room. Dars only made a slight tilt of his head to signal he was listening, while Cale just smirked and continued to drink out of a cup without bothering to look his way; as much as a man without eyes could 'not look'.

"What makes you say that?" Ben politely asked, though his tone was wary of what Rosh was getting at.

Sighing with an out loud growl, Rosh looked specifically to the person he started the talk with, laying out his grievance with one arm while keeping the other crossed over his chest; it didn't help he enunciated with vocal disparagement in the first sentence.

"Well, _Kyle_ , doesn't seem to really foster my _talents_!" He spat out like venom, but his countenance and attitude was something Jaden could ascribe as being childish. Her opinion didn't change as he pushed off the Premium Bed, further airing out his grievances to the older man. "He takes me on missions with him, but doesn't let me do any of the important stuff!"

At hearing this, the room seemed to deflate the tension that had been built. It almost sounded like dissension, or a possible case of rebellion against the teachers of the Academy. Instead, it was the tirades of a displeased and impatient pupil who wants to accept the full responsibilities of a full fledged Jedi. They all but turned away and continued to talk among themselves, allowing Ben to settle things as he went out of his way to do.

"Well," He continued, now with a sympathetic smile on his face, watching Rosh walk over to Jaden's table. "Maybe he's testing you. You know, see how you react on seemingly mundane missions? I wouldn't really worry about it."

"I'm not so sure," Rosh mulled aloud, his voice finally dialing back to an acceptable level as he looked straight to her, his body leveled between Ral and Cale, across at an angle from Dars. "What do you think, Jaden?"

Being put on the spot, she nervously bat her eyes at him and looked to the others at the table. From her periphery, thankfully no one else was staring at her and awaiting to judge an answer. Instead, it was the more intimate people in her life and she wondered how they'd react to what she thought. In her mind she had taken largely the majority of the week off to better herself and settle into the Academy, refining her skills and sinking into her usual routine in a new environment. Meanwhile, it was likely Rosh that kept taking any mission he could and it showed that not all of them ended up being as unexpectedly dangerous like hers had been.

Clearing her throat, Jaden began to speak up, "Well I-"

"There you two are! Ready to head back out there?" Kyle's voice cut through the air like a Vibroblade. His entrance had been swift and the sound of conversation had masked his arrival. Blinking sheepishly from Rosh to their approaching, bearded master, the spiky haired teen turned also to look at him. She only caught a glimpse, but she swore she saw a slight swell of red on his face at being more or less interrupted in such a delicate conversation; involving their master no less.

Sensing the tension between the pair, the table itself falling silent in respect, Kyle looked between the pair with raised brows, "Did I interrupt something?"

Rosh and Jaden both exchanged glances. In that moment she felt empathy to him, as he looked worried that she'd let loose the context of the gossip that he was entailing. It was a similar look she had seen Meelik show when he was being interrogated about a pocket he had more or less been implicated in pilfering, and one she had seen done. This wasn't the same, but the circumstance felt similar in how she was related to being responsible.

As she remained silent and looked back to Kyle, Rosh put on a forced smile with a jubilant voice to boot, "No, not at all! Well I'm ready, let's go-!"

"Actually," She finally spoke, causing Rosh's voice to hitch in his throat and his face to pale. The Jedi Master knit one brow and kept the other raised, keeping attention to the silver eyed, platinum back-long plait student of hers as she interrupted her fellow pupil. Casting a brief side-glance at him, she worked up a smile and continued to speak her mind as she stood up from her seat. "I was wondering if there was a possibility Rosh and I could take a mission together. You know, possibly something that could use two of us instead of on our own?"

"Both of you? Now that's an idea," Kyle settled down, wrapping a gloved hand over his bearded jaw while propping it up with another by the elbow. As he stroked it in thought, he did give a nod of pondering, placing both covered hands into his pants' pockets. "There's a mission I was going to send just you, Jaden, on that I'd help you out with. It may be nothing, but we got a report by some officials from the planet Bakura. I can brief you before you depart, but I want you to know I was also contacted by a special someone to lend a hand. I might be too busy to help if it goes awry, but I'll do what I can. With Rosh there, you two might be able to fulfill it even without my help, if anything is actually going to Hell."

"Great!" Rosh excitedly piped up, the sound of potential danger eliciting an emotion that was transparently obvious for all to see. Turning to Jaden, he grasped her by the shoulders and shook her in place, causing her eyes to bulge and body to shake in his forceful grip. "I'll get my things and head to the hangar! This is going to be awesome!"

"S-Sure thing!" She replied, smiling back despite herself. Even as he let go of her and began to head out, Kyle exchanged a smiling shake of his head at her. Turning to leave, she looked to the others and quickly scarfed down what food she could from her tray. Wiping her mouth after downing the cup, she began to trot away, waving over her shoulder at them. "Let's pick this up after I get back!"

"Keep that scruffy nerfherder out of trouble!" Ral called out with an encouraging wave back.

"Or don't, and bail him out for bragging rights!" Cale cried over her, earning a smiling shake of Jaden's head as she jogged out of the recreation room and onto her imminent mission.

" **Bakura, huh? That place is former Imperial space,** " Dars spoke up, looking thoughtfully to the pair, turning to look to his right where Jaden had disappeared to. " **I sense Remnant hands at work here.** "

"Not impossible," Ral shrugged, nonchalantly leaning back on her seat while smiling at her fellow pupils. "But I'm sure between our loudmouth poster boy and our reclusive machinist, they can handle even the worst case scenario."

"I'll drink to that," Cale cheered, raising a cup that a humored Ral and encouraged Dars picked up for the commemoration of the moment. "To Jaden and Rosh, an unlikely duo!"

A clack of cups, the Miralukan and Zabrak drank their cups while Dars awkwardly inserted the fluid through an opening of his breather; ultimately ending with good natured laughs from his companions.

* * *

 **A/N:** This was a nice Chapter for me. I forgot that, after just 2 missions, you get a small interim cutscene involving foreshadowing of Rosh's dissatisfaction at Kyle's methods. It made me wonder what he did in game that was so boring. Did Game!Jaden get all the tough missions and Rosh was just stuck babysitting snotty brats and running errands through the safest trade routes? At least in this case, Story!Rosh has taken so many missions with only a day or so in between to take in essential reading and training, that he's gotten a lot of bottom of the barrel requests to handle. It's only natural you can't be lucky and get "all" of the excitement.

And yes, these OC's are based completely on my own imagination.

I liked how pretty the Zabrak women were in the game, so I made her (Ral Theron) the most attractive one I could fathom if only because we'll see her more often than not compared to the myriad of boundlessly nameless Jedi of the Academy.

Since there was a very limited supply of male students apart from Human/Rodian/Kel Dor, I spun things up a bit by making Cale V'eel, a Miralukan since Jerec was obviously evidence that they still existed so I wanted to throw my hat in and include at least one in the Academy. While I am laying the ground for a potential romantic interest, I may not put too much attention to it so let me know if any of you are interested in that sort of thing.

Lastly, I have to make at least one named Kel Dor and that is Dars Razz, likely part of the one race that wasn't as hard hit by the Empire's Jedi Purge so it was easy to forge a reasonable backstory and pathos for him. Despite being not as interesting, he does help fill the dynamic by being the soft spoken and thoughtful one of the three, plus his race's culture and background are cool enough to help make up for any lack of depth that might be had in his creation.

Next Chapter will be the Bakura Mission, and oh boy this will be fun. If this wasn't a game, Jaden taking on what is perhaps a small army of Stormtroopers (plus new elite stealth units) while a station is being sabatoged left and right seems like it'd be a miracle to complete without any fatal error. In my mind, while Jaden isn't going to be a pushover, this will help develop her relationship with Rosh and showing off his own talents, paving the way for future chapters like this down the road.

And like that, it's time to bid you adieu until the next update. See you all again later!


	8. Chapter 8 - Sum of Our Parts

**Mission Briefing** : Governing officials of the planet, Bakura, have requested the Jedi Order's assistance. A power station up in the mountains has been taken over by an unknown group. They've sent a team to investigate, but haven't heard back from them since. It's been almost a full day since the takeover and they're concerned enough to call for a discreet infiltration of their facility. Their priorities are twofold, the first being to stop the unknown group's plans and to take back the facility undamaged. They warn us its built over a dormant volcano and that if the facility was critically damaged it could trigger a chain reaction; one that could spill over to a populated city along its base. The Bakurans' want us to thwart the renegade faction's takeover of their power station and save it from irreparable harm.

* * *

Looking over the mission, it was clear why Jaden believed Kyle's presence was necessary. Unlike probing for information or acquiring a droid, the happenstance accidents that occurred were outside of their control by third parties that incited it to violent levels. Here it was directly an attack on a planet's power source, and there was a great possibility this was a plan of sabotage. If the group inside were alerted by a full blown Republic response, they could cause more harm than not by their presence.

Still, this was a tentative operation with high risk. She wondered why an in-training student like herself would be enough to assist a Jedi Master like Kyle? Her suggestion to bring Rosh now felt warranted as the headache of handling this on her own felt exorbitant.

On the other hand, she wondered if Rosh had the maturity to remain discreet on a mission like this.

Looking over, she saw him dressed in his usual outfit, inspecting his DL-44 pistol with careful attention. The pile of weapons set next to his seat in the cockpit with her was an EMP weapon, a Destructive Electro-Magnetic Pulse 2 Gun (a DEMP for short) which was a short barreled rifle with a flared muzzle that seems almost blunt at the edge; which in fact it was a slitted flap that would unfurl when firing. The other weapon was an E-11 and that just made sense to her.

She was likewise similarly armed, with a DL-44 holstered on her hip opposite to her lightsaber, an E-11 and a Bowcaster leaning up next to her seat. Unlike the one that Chewie left an impression on her, this was a more rudimentary design that the Wookies had lent to the Republic during their Alliance days. It was certainly heavy and thanks to her abundance of physical activity in hunting hauls of scrap and doing errands for her work, she was in no shortage of stamina leading up to the Academy's regimen. The weapon itself provided more than its fair share of features and from what the mighty Chewbacca boasted, it's definitely a weapon she couldn't pass up.

Exiting hyperspace, she cruised the Yavin Runner II with Rosh towards the planet's destination. The transport itself was equipped with sensory dampening arrays, making it difficult for stations and larger starships to pick them up on instruments. She had to hope nobody was in the station to see their landing.

"Huh," Rosh made an odd noise, causing her to bat an eye his way. He was looking through the view-shield up ahead, looking almost nostalgic. "Bakura huh? This planet is giving me the case of Déjà vu."

"How come?" Jaden asked, doing her best to pilot the ship with her basic skills of flight simulation she put into beforehand.

"Reminds me of home," He admitted, having a rare simple smile on his face that made her turn from her flight path for a few moments. Looking over at her, he grinned and waved his blaster around nonchalantly -much to her chagrin- as he asked. "Ever heard of Dantooine?"

"I've read about it, yes," She answered, eyeing her flight path carefully.

"The most dull planet in the galaxy," Rosh explained, leaning back as he took in the terrestrial beauty of Bakura, with the occasional glistening city sparking a majestic contrast to the natural wonderment that filled their vista. "It's got a lot of the same that this place does, just a whole lot more green and blue. Grasslands and a savannas far as the eye can see. My home was in a farming community, and it's got a bit of a history of the Jedi there."

"Really?" Jaden turned her head, now legitimately curious. "Like how?"

"Used to have an Enclave there," He explained, shrugging with his pistol put into the holster on his hip. "Though it was long since abandoned after some war a long time ago. My family's got a legacy with them and boy do we got old artifacts and trinkets from way back when," He briefly stopped at that, looking at his lap, almost morosely explaining. "We had to hide our valuables when the Empire was in charge, due to them making occasional sweeps for convicts that may be in hiding or anyone a part of the Rebellion. It was no secret that the less disciplined battalions of the Empire would abuse their authority and confiscate contraband that they saw as worth pocketing for themselves. If they found some of the old museum worth of collection my family kept, they'd probably accuse us of treason and make up a lot of nonsense just to make an example."

"Sounds like you had it rough with the Imperials," She stated, as if it wasn't obvious enough.

"I'd imagine practically anybody who was sane knows that the Empire does nothing but cause trouble for the smaller guys," Rosh confessed with an embittered tone.

"Yeah, the Empire never did me any favors," The Echani-blooded teen concurred, looking ahead with a more furrowed brow. "Not that they noticed anything beneath their feet."

"Been meaning to ask," The spiky haired man interceded, leaning forward with hands on his legs as his face looked towards hers. "Where did you come from? I mean, someone with such a striking appearance and quite frankly a nerd for tech has to have an interesting upbringing, right?"

Sighing, she saw the mountain ahead, slowing her approach and doing her best to ease up towards the incoming facility. Indeed a sparkling city in its dawn cycle was at the base of this mountain, more than likely powered in no small part to the power station they were heading towards. Hugging close to the sloping ascent of the volcano, eventually ending at the top where most mountains of this sort ended.

There, she saw the structure in its entirety. From the outside looking in, it didn't look that big, but she knew it likely was built into the volcano's mouth and through the mountain if not in part. The rest was likely multi-storied and used stairs to elevators to make a convenient traveling system. Coming over to an empty landing pad, she lowered down with a gentle thud, turning to look at Rosh who had all but forgotten his question.

"I'll tell you after we take a look," Jaden assured him with a wayward glance through the front shielding of the cockpit. "I'm already getting a bad vibe with how little presence is on the outside."

"Yeah," Rosh agreed, unfastening the safety harness from his seat and began equipping his weapons to his person. Once he was done, he joined his fellow disciple of Kyle out of the Jedi Transport through its landing ramp. Exiting the vessel's interior, the pair stomped noisily on the metal plating of the walkway, soon finding their boots touching the tarmac of the landing pad itself. From the way it was positioned, it was likely that this facility powered only the local city and that personnel that were stationed here rarely got visits, with only the occasional transport for supplies and other management reasons.

The wind whistled in a brisk gust, blowing back the platinum plait of Jaden's hair while Rosh's spiky tresses flourished in the breeze. Had they not been wearing comfortable field gear, they'd definitely feel more than anticipation for this mission, as temperatures at such a high altitude such as this felt like iced claws along exposed skin. This was counterbalanced by the soft heat of the station itself, producing the energy was a natural power source, piped straight up from the dormant volcano and refined with advanced technology only the age of the Empire could supply.

In the fallout of the Rebel Alliance's victory over Endor, Bakura was one of the first planets to receive aid to the fledgling New Republic. From what Jaden had researched, the planet was the first real turnaround for the motley organization's proof that they could protect other worlds that couldn't receive aid from their once revered Imperial rulers. Now it's been some time, but the fact it was such a quick consensus to contact the Jedi Order to have them assist them in a potentially dangerous sabotage,

As the pair drew in the sight of the lamp-lit metal walkway of an L-shape directing towards the front of the facility, Rosh couldn't help but almost jerk back. The sight of a completely scorched body was revealed upon closer inspection, not but half a meter away from the path into the station. It was older than a fresh kill, but still pungent of ozone burns to make any close investigation a rueful endeavor.

Silently, the pair continued to walk on the metal grated flooring, briefly touching solid stone before turning back on another bolted bridge suspended over the chasm of the volcano's mouth. On a larger spanning area in front of the facility, the two had counted up to five bodies of Bakuran personnel; they knew it was likely they'd never find the strike team sent hours ago either.

Breaching the entrance was easy enough, the door automatically sliding up and revealing the initial interior of the power station. Pipes and wires were sealed behind caged walls, fixed into the Durasteel walled foundations, surrounding the room with its ceaseless pumping of energy. Fusion furnaces were piled next to some boxes, no doubt in line to be shipped elsewhere before the infiltration, at the far left side of the room. Near it was a locked door, and a computer console that manned observation.

"Let's see what we're dealing with," Jaden intoned, finally breaking the tense silence that had overwhelmed them upon finding the first dead body.

Her hands adjusted quickly to the computer in front of her. While her prime talent was tinkering since childhood, her work had led her to the eclectic acquisition of knowing how a plethora of machines functioned. This included vehicles of air and land variety, weapons that she dismantled and repaired for clients, and of course computers of many kinds. This clued her in on her own means of worming her way into vital systems where ordinary cracking wasn't capable of getting through firewalls or standard protocols hardwired into the machinery itself.

Thankfully, this was a simple system made to ensure everyone was doing what they were supposed to and monitor any potential mistakes made in the station. She thought that whoever took control of the facility was less worried about setting up defenses and barricading themselves in than anybody reasonable should. This led to a dangerous track for her thoughts; one that was confirmed upon inspecting the video feeds.

"Is that-?"

"Imperials," She hissed lowly, her blood pumping in tune with her beating heart. It was exactly as she feared. There were cycling feeds directed to different corridors, halls and rooms, filled to the brim with men in uniform of an all too familiar type. White armor with permanent grimacing masks, grey-black-beige suited officers accompanying them as immediate supervisors and lastly, a group of burly black suited individuals near the pipe lines of the facility. They were ushering blue and red colored fluids, chemicals no doubt that was vital in refining the natural energy source that was siphoned through the station and into the local major city at its base.

The audio kicked in, audibly, and with a startled turn of their heads the two students listened in.

"The charges are set, sir," A low drawl came from one of the muscle bounded Imperials in black, looking to an approaching colleague of equal menacing stature.

"Good," The second replied, just as the third kept fiddling with the settings of the triage of tanks linked together by metal and wires, with a single mechanism sitting atop to show a possible kill switch; at least, to Jaden's eyes, it did.

"The Republic is getting complacent," The Imperial growled, his voice almost unheard as he ranted. "They're underestimating us. Once this facility explodes, Bakura will know what happens to traitors to the Empire!"

The sudden implication of a bomb going off made the Echani-blooded girl go pale. Her eyes dilated and her mouth hung open, her breath leaving her lungs as she rasped in between heavy pants. Sweat beaded off her skin as the memory of a daunting explosion rocked the upper levels of Coruscant, letting loose a hail of molten durasteel, permacrete and ferrocrete down to the lower levels, nearly wiping her home off the map. The following weeks of raining shrapnel that killed neighbors and almost killed her without realization had kept her haunted.

"Jaden? Jaden?!"

Rosh shook her back to reality, his voice insistent and panicked while his hand gripped her shoulder tight. Brought back to her back to her senses, she shared a more determined -if not still very alarmed- look that she hurriedly spoke aloud, "We have to disarm those charges. If any one of those goes, the facility will suffer a chain reaction."

"How do we do that?" He asked, genuinely perplexed on how to achieve this goal.

"This computer is hooked up to most of the facility's security feed. There should be others like it around, meaning they all connect on a hub," She explained, her hands hovering over the console as she began to punch in computations and commands on the limited desktop she was provided. After a few jostling motions of her digits, she issued a series of locations and pointed at the screen. "Look, those are the same charges. They must have had those moved in after they secured the facility, given they didn't blow it up right away. They want this as an act of terror to push them into leaving the Republic, or worse, profiting off their misfortune."

"Sith Spit!" Rosh snapped, looking visibly repulsed but understanding what she's getting at. "So, we go to these charges and keep in touch on the comlink? How would we know where to look if we get lost?"

"Like I said, there should be more consoles around in different rooms if something this close to the entrance can access it. Just find a console to put yourself back on the path," Jaden instructed, already doing her best to memorize the routes. "This station may look big, but it's a simple power facility. There's only so many floors and so many places to go. Once we got the bombs clear, we can clean house and make a break for it; Bakura authorities or the Republic can take over from there."

"Alright!" The spiky haired man guffawed, whipping out his E-11 in earnest. "Let's kick these Imperials back to the Unknown Regions!"

" **Is there someone in there?!** "

The pair reeled, looking towards the presently locked door that led to the rest of the facility. The sound was from an unmistakable audio receiver mic from a Stormtrooper's helmet. The distinct sound was unforgettable when they found the pair of them in more recent memory, after the crash on Yavin IV.

" **Go alert the others! We got intruders!** " Another voice barked out, a rapping of booted feet hitting the floor behind the door heard afterwards.

"Holo-dust!" Jaden hissed, bringing her Bowcaster to bear with an arching heft from her shoulder strap. Quickly, they took to the pile of Fusion furnaces and crates, the pair primed their weapons, thrums filling their mechanisms and charging with a pulsing hunger. The taps of impatient plated feet were heard just beyond the wall of the mere several meters of distance between the troops of the Remnant and themselves.

Then, it opened, and a hail of E-11 fire was released into the open space. They didn't even aim, just blindly firing into a space wherever they could've been in that immediate space. Relying on sight and impulse, the soldiers here were unfocused thanks to the alarm of the sudden arrival and near proximity of the enemy.

Thankfully, the Force cleared their minds enough to perceive an opening within the chain of shots released by the Stormtroopers. Rosh tilted his body to brace against the crate he was wedged against, putting both arms up and over in an arch to prop his own rifle on top of it. Squeezing the trigger, he sought the purchase of hitting some troopers, causing them to recoil and halt the staccato of crimson bolts crashing throughout the room.

Jaden chanced a kneeling rise from her spot in the barricade, hoisting her Bowcaster up to take aim at a sparking impact Rosh landed a third time on the same trooper, causing him to tumble back in a cry of agony. Even as one of the other Stormtroopers knelt to the scorched breastplate of his comrade, she toggled the setting to charge her weapon just as they saw her. A singing few bolts nary missed her scalp and cheeks, right before she let go of the trigger and the weapon kicked hard against her shoulder.

A loud cracking snap was heard as shuriken shaped lime blasts crashed along the door frame and the standing troopers. The effect was less than the full power of a single shot but held enough potency to down the rest of the white clad armor squad into a pile of downed bodies. In a matter of seconds, their little scuffle ended, but they had lost precious time in the beginning of this mission.

"We're going to need to move fast," Jaden implored, rising up to keep her weapon hefted in her grip. Vaulting over the wall of Fusion furnaces and boxes, Rosh joined her in a forward front flip, landing deftly beside her as they walked over the smoking bodies of their enemies. Looking around the corner, they saw an elevated hallway, leading in a couple of directions in a crossroads. "I'll head one way, you head the other. We'll keep in touch with our comlinks. You ready?"

"Yeah," Rosh implored, his hands gripping his E-11 tightly, his face showing gritted teeth and a fire sparking behind his eyes. "Let's make these Imperials think twice before committing acts of terrorism!"

In that moment, the two separated and made quick rounds across the facility. While Jaden had been mistaken in her assessment in traps being laid -having come across entries and hallways filled with trip mines to disable easy access to the rest of the station- they were easy enough for her to disable from experience of disabling volatile devices in her level or through the Force's compulsion of ripping them from their placements. Rosh didn't seem to have issues on his end either, briefly chiming in when he found an explosive and reportedly had it defused without any real skill necessary.

"Got one, Jaden!" He called over the comlink.

"Yeah, I got one as well," She said, retreating from an outdoors area that looked to have been an observation post for the facility. "I think that leaves three more to go. Let's check some of the outlying fuel canisters for explosives."

She said canisters but really they were more crates and Fusion furnaces of the like they had run across in the first room. Spread out were giant reservoirs filled to the brim of the refining fuel was siphoned into the eventual thick cables that'd burrow into the side of the mountain's side and then drive towards the city many kilometers away. In the distance she could see what were the triage of crudely fixed metal and a trigger sequence placed, along with some of those burly figures in black uniforms.

That slowly disappeared as she drew closer. No, not disappeared, more like faded away like a warping flicker of a mirage in a desert. The Force flickered around them, showing they hadn't simply vanished but simply hid in a way of some sort of camouflage technology. Not taking any chances, she drew upon the well of energy within herself and fired a wide erupting shot from her Bowcaster, careful to not aim at the explosive behind them.

It struck, surprisingly not flinging them off as unseen armor beneath the uniforms dispersed some of the damage. They opened fire with E-11's, singing bolts cried out across the distance as Jaden ducked and rolled away as she approached the pair. Swapping out her Bowcaster with her own E-11, she let loose an automatic burst, pelting one of them enough that he screamed in pain and fell off the rampart onto solid rock near the power reservoirs the bomb was placed by. The other tried to duck closer to the bomb, but was struck in the back of the head, and instantly downed near his target.

Emptying her clip, she rearmed it as she approached the bomb, unfastening the bolt and pulling up the lever to deactivate her target. Thrumming to a low decibel before completely shutting down, she clicked on her comlink with haste, "Rosh, I got another one, but we got a problem. It looks like the Remnant's got a goon squad comprised of heavily armored and camouflaged commandos. Be on the look out for them."

"Yeah, you don't say?" Rosh asked incredulously, pinned behind a corner back in the facility's interior. There, the invisible mirages fired at him, being several in number and holding the other charge in custody. The officer and troopers that were lying on the ground were of no consequence to these hardened executioners. They simply held their ground against the interloper and aimed to make a clean getaway once all opposition had ceased.

It was something the young man wouldn't abide by.

Closing his eyes, he focused on his muscles, enhancing them and his mind in an abrupt burst of speed. In a streak of blurring motion, the fired blasts were reduced to slow moving arrows of light, enabling him to dodge them and locate the odd flickers of light refracting tech. Pulling out his training saber, he ignited it in a blur of yellow hue, crossing it over in an arc towards the top, burning the face of one commando before letting loose a hail of shots while still swiftly dancing around them. Eventually, he dispatched them and was left to catch his breath for a few seconds, wisely using that time to pull up the lever of the second to last device.

"I took care of those invisible mynocks you mentioned. And another bomb," He intoned as casually as he could manage, trying not to sound like he was gasping for air.

"That leaves only one left," Jaden replied, expending more ammunition on a block of armored troops led by several officers. "Rendezvous with me at the locked door. Hopefully we won't have to cut our way through, cause I don't think we have much time left."

"I found a security key off this one officer I took down," He answered hopefully, eyeing it suspiciously if it was for the right door. "I can't tell if its the card we need, but its the only one I've found from the other Imperials."

"It'll have to do," She answered, rushing by to the bodies of troopers and officers she blasted. She hurriedly salvaging ammo clips from other troops to replace the energy she was expending in her reckless firing against a continued onslaught of enemies. She had no way of knowing just how many Imperials were here, but if she had to guess, way more than either one of them could take down on their own.

Once there, Jaden had discarded her blaster weapons in favor for her luminous silver blade. She was on guard when Rosh turned the corner and skid down the smooth flooring that led down to the locked door. Fidgeting the security key out, he inserted it into the designated slot, causing the frame's lightning to shift from **Red** to **Green** in a second.

Opening ahead, Rosh whipped out his training saber, its crackling hiss of ignition heard as the pair began to parry a number of blaster shots that came from a lower level while their walkway arched to another locked door. But, a platform not far away from the glass-like flooring of their elevated position, was revealed with a trooper with a shoulder pad of dull mustard hue -designating himself of a higher rank- while wielding an Imperial Repeater. The two-handed round-barreled rifle let loose a horde of bulb-shaped shots, best described as less lethal on their own but in conjunction with each other capable of mowing down medium to unarmored targets.

It was a difficulty for both students to defend against the lower level shots, and the distant Repeater armed Stormtrooper. Even as their arms moved in Force laden reflex, striking each bolt and reflecting them to random directions, the Repeater firing their way was hard to continuously deflect. Gritting teeth, Jaden herself imbued herself with an emerald film of that same feeling she felt from her fight with the acolyte in Mos Eisley.

Rosh looked over, seeming to be astonished by the power she revealed. In that second, he got shot in the shoulder, causing him to grit his teeth and snarl. Throwing his blade in an expert toss, it struck the trooper below across the neck, not fully severing it if only due to the limited energy output the weapon had. Boomeranging back to his grip, he repeated the gesture as Jaden ran swiftly across the glass walkway and leaped across the distance, forward flipping while her Protection absorbed the brunt of the damage.

In an adept landing, she shattered the weapon in a clean arc before beheading the Stormtrooper in one fell swoop. Hearing the last of the shots taken down, she looked over at Rosh, calling out to him, "I saw you were hit! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," He grimaced, kneeling down and hovering a palm over the laser's impact. A blue mist like aura summoned around his palm, knitting the wound's tissue back together and healing it in a rapid pace. While it took his concentration, it was a nifty ability that Jaden hadn't seen before; wishing she had considered having it on his own. She was shaken out of her daze when Rosh implored with a shout of his own. "Go on and finish disarming it. I'll keep anybody else from getting past me."

"Alright!" She replied sharply, entering the open doorway and into the first chamber they had seen in the camera. Red and Blue fluid was being siphoned, no doubt a complex process of refining the volcano's natural energy into feasible power for the city to use far away. Looking around, she kept her blade up, illuminating the shadows that the vast arrays of luminescent bulbs and the pulsing liquid churned with audible gurgling. The constant hum of the machinery nearly muffled the sound of a purring thuum the stealth generators left, but the Force had left an echo over where the commandos were hiding.

"It doesn't need to go down this way," Jaden warned, her blade thrumming with a slight angled wave as her eyes darted about to the spots she figured they were. "Lay down your weapons and walk out of here. There doesn't have to be anymore lost life."

"That's where you're wrong, Jedi!" One of them spouted, firing a hail of laser bolts, soon joined by the other squad's attack.

Instead of reflecting them as she initially planned, she speedily maneuvered around the arcing shots and began to swing her blade in rapid sweeps to catch them off guard. One after the other, the light refracted commandos were dispatched, unable to cope with the Force enhanced speed that their enemy had. Even as the last one was being cut down, he cried out a profanity and dropped to the ground, charred in a gruesome slash across his armor-reinforced uniform.

Sighing, she disengaged the weapon, pulling the lever and ending the madness that was taking place.

Exiting the room, she found Rosh had finished healing and a cascade of more Stormtroopers were coming from below as well as from their previous entrance. Clicking her teeth, she leaped across the distance of the platform back to the walk way, joined by a silently nodding Rosh as the pair of students made a break for it. It honestly didn't matter how many they cut down or fired upon, there was probably a hundred or so still stationed. The fact of the matter is, they managed to defuse the volatile situation and now the Republic with the aid of the Bakura officials bring an end to the infiltration.

Returning to their ship, they left in a cacophony of blaster fire sent their way, a futile and spiteful gesture by their enemies.

Escaping the planet's atmosphere, Jaden made sure to contact Kyle, whom was still out on his personal mission. It was helpful he picked up without much issue, seeing his seated figure via holo-feed.

"Remnant huh? I wish I was there to help but, you can't be everywhere at once," He somberly replied, sighing as he leaned back in whatever seat he was in. "Still, you two handled yourselves pretty well. Nice work."

"I couldn't have done it without Rosh," Jaden made sure to add with insistence, something she felt the spiky-haired man glance at her oddly in response to. "There were too many of them to handle on my own."

"Maybe, maybe not. A job well done is thanks to the sum of your parts," Kyle gestured to the both of them. "I'll let the Bakura authorities know what's happened so the Republic can mount a full operation to bring the facility back to proper control. Still, I wanted to let you know there's another mission you can take before heading back to the Academy. Interested?"

"Sure!" Rosh piped up, sounding exuberant for another thrilling adventure. "What's it this time?"

"A rescue operation," Kyle intoned, sounding a little more cautious, just like in how he spoke of the Bakura task they just finished. "Some merchants hauling valuable cargo had went down around Blenjeel. They had lit a rescue beacon once they crashed but no communication has been established. If you two want to rest, I can see if somebody else can take it-"

"Not a problem, right Rosh?" Jaden turned with a grin, further off-putting the black haired man. He arched his brows at her tone of voice, and shrugged, giving Kyle the go ahead but also making the Echani-blooded girl recoil a bit, wondering if she did something wrong.

"Fine, I'll send you the coordinates. Just give me a few as I contact the officials for your finished mission," Kyle signed off, not showing any sign of him picking up the weird tension between the pair.

Once holo-feed ended, Jaden thought to have asked how his assignment was going but better thought to save it for later. Looking to Rosh, he now fixed a pair of furrowed brows while his hands were crossed over his chest.

"What?" Jaden asked, trying to sound ignorant.

"You know what," Rosh dryly pointed with a tilt of his nose to the disengaged feed. "Just because I'm public about my issues with Kyle, doesn't mean I'm asking to be pandered to, Jaden."

"That's not what it was-"

"You're obviously better than me, Jaden!" He snapped, gesturing wildly with his arms as he stared ahead at the field of stars they were cruising towards. "I was so proud to have discovered latent talent in the Force. Being able to become a Jedi was a dream of mine. I yearned for it! But then, I met you, and you didn't even seem thrilled to be here despite getting your own lightsaber for ahead of me."

"Wait, hold on," She shook her head, her eyes now looking at him with an agape expression. "You think I was lauding an advantage over you? Rosh, that isn't true!"

"How so?" The spiky haired man dubiously inquired.

"I was struggling just to keep up with you in the training grounds. Whatever you may think of me, I'm not as good as you are in using the Force. I'm just learning as I go, and quite frankly, I think a lot of the other students are doing that as well," She explained, gesturing with her hands as the auto-pilot kept them steady in space. "Rosh, you're so much better than you think you are. Comparing me is like trying to compare Master Skywalker to Master Jade. Not everyone is equal in some respects. I think you've got a far better knack at using Force powers than me; I didn't even think you could use the Force to heal yourself from blaster shots."

"Well, I didn't think you could make a shield around your body while still fighting," He spoke out in bemusement. "Is that how you walked away from two major falls?"

"It'd explain why you didn't look hurt, given that you didn't have a scratch on you either," She pointed out, half grinning. "Rosh, I'm not trying to be condescending, or even patronize you. When I say that mission felt too big for me on my own, I meant it. Cutting through bandits and Sand People is one thing, but you've done far more missions than I have. I was 'lucky' enough to have had two scary conflicts to deal with in a single day. At least you were pacing yourself with the difficulty of your assignments, enough that you were starting to feel bored."

"Huh," Rosh licked his lips, suddenly losing the spark of his frustration he had moments ago. "I uh...I'm sorry. I guess I got the wrong impression of what you were doing for me. I'm not used to people trying to give me a leg up, ya know?"

"And I'm not used to people being as abrasive or aggressive as you," She admitted, giving him the half compliment in jest as he batted an eye at her wording. "You're impulsive, hot-headed and far more energized than I could hope to be. I like the quiet, you like the noise. We're near opposites when it comes to these kinds of things."

"Yeah, you're kind of a weird recluse and almost a hermit in your room. I'm glad the other students are taking a liking to ya, but you should get out more," He advised her, half grinning himself. "Trust me, the Academy isn't anywhere close to being as sinister as whatever place you're from."

"Coruscant," She corrected, finally sighing as she punched in a beeping coordinates in the astro charts to Blenjeel. As the ship began to lurch into Hyperspace, she began to regale him of her life story. "It all started back when I was a child..."

* * *

 **A/N:** And there you have it. Rosh and Jaden's first mission together! While this isn't necessarily a thrilling conflict, I felt like this could be used in a positive way to help forge their friendship, beyond the admittedly flat conflict that you could see miles away. Rosh is impatient, Rosh wants to be a Jedi already, why can't Rosh be accepted already? No wonder Game!Rosh goes to the Dark Side, he never got anybody to even reconcile his bitterness and Kyle did jack of all to encourage him. Jaden barely says a word before Rosh pushes it aside; at least here Rosh is hammering out his feelings and Jaden is explaining herself and where she comes from.

Next mission is going to be more or less an interim chapter. While the initial conflict of the Blenjeel mission may be touched upon, it might be shorter than what this last chapter was focused on. In any case, this is the stepping stones for a true advancement in Rosh and Jaden's characters; into the final mission of the first stage of the Academy game.

See you all in the next update!


	9. Chapter 9 - A Crafted Bond

**Mission Briefing** : The Academy has been transmissioned a distress call from a damaged Merchant Vessel. From what the message was stated, an Interdictor Cruiser opened fire after crossing paths with the ship. Imperials operating in that region of space apparently don't want any visitors. We triangulated the position of the beacon on Blenjeel, an uninhabited planet as far as we can tell. This should be an easy grab and take-off, but you never know with these rescue missions.

* * *

The hyperspace flight from Bakura to Blenjeel was a fair distance, going all the way from Wild Space into the Mid Rim. But so was her story. She regaled of her earliest memories of her childhood, of how she had faint hints that she once had a father and mother, but then was left alone in the Lower levels with the closest thing she could call a relative. She bore no physical indicator that she was blood related, but he cared for her enough and kept her clothed until he passed away when she was not much older. Then the community she was living with became her new family, even if she felt wary to trust and isolated herself often.

Her habits of taking things apart to see how they functioned was at first discouraged by her guardian, but soon she was encouraged after they discovered her hidden talents. Being a mechanical savant had began to earn her credits, even aided her in starting her own self promoted business that allowed her to help the community itself and travel all across the lower to higher levels of Coruscant. It wasn't always an easy task, neither was it wholly safe, but it was something she felt satisfied over.

But her description of the bombing of Coruscant brought a bit of disquiet from her. It was something she noticeably wanted to gloss over and not dwell upon, as it had bad memories she wished to move past. When she explained how the lightsaber was forged, Rosh finally broke his silence and looked at her incredulously.

"So let me get this straight," He spoke aloud, his brows knitted as he tried to look at her with seriousness, gesturing with his hands to emphasize his confusion. "You never questioned why you could take things apart and learn how it works without anybody explaining it to you?"

"Oh I did," Jaden nodded, leaning back on the pilot's seat as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I've just never got an answer that made sense. My guardian thought I was reading some books or manuals that taught me, and others simply thought I was a born genius. I kind of took it with a grain of salt and just decided to ignore how odd it was."

"So you never could move things with your mind, or any other weird things that aren't normal?" Rosh persisted, one brow raising as he asked this question.

"No, not at all. I had a good feeling on how people were going to react or when somebody was feeling foul or happy, but I thought that was basic perception," She dismissed, leaning over till her braided plait swung out to lightly touch one of Rosh's extended hands, her silver eyes looking intensely at his dark rings in his sockets. Despite the serious look she was making and the obvious tension of discomfort imbued into her fellow teammate, she asked with a wry grin in an almost chiding manner. "You know social cues? Awareness? Common etiquette about personal space?"

"Ah!" Rosh finally recoiled back, brushing the back of his head with a hand as his face flushed. "You mean...from before when I...uh," He bowed his head down, looking a little ashamed as his cheeks burned up. "I'm sorry, Jaden."

"I'm not mad by this point," She admitted, pursing her lips as she took a brief eye-full of the rushing blue stream of hyperspace that the Yavin Runner II was still traversing in. "But, it kind of shows that you're far more comfortable being physically intimate with people. In some ways, it shows how trustworthy and endearing you can be. I'm just...not like that," She turned to look at the wall of the cockpit to her left, her voice lowering in volume as she explained. "I've never got enjoyment from being physically close to people. The noise, the anxiety of being robbed or wronged, and the noxious presence of every living being squashed in a tight compress of space. I had to endure it by pitching up a tent to block out everything else while I lived in a block full of nearly a hundred people in one quarter of it. From that point on, the habit grew and I'm just reliant on isolating myself so I don't know how to handle this kind of interaction."

"Surely you made some friends, right?" Rosh insisted with his question, though she didn't turn to address him. That is, not until he pressed further with an unseen wave of his hand. "You couldn't have been all alone where you lived?"

"Well," Jaden bit her lower lip, turning to look back with a slight grin. "I knew this Rodian who was near my age. His name was Meelik and he was my only dear friend in that dark world I was crammed in. He was the one that told me that I should get out of my bubble and go become a Jedi. We shopped the whole night after we submitted a request at the local Republic office, helping me find new clothes, new gear and just spending one last memorable day together."

"He sounds like a stand-up guy, all things considering the place you lived in," Rosh complimented with a cheery grin.

"He is," She nodded, albeit sadly. "I wish he came with me. He would've loved seeing all the places I've been to."

"You're going to see him when your training is done, right?"

The question was expected, but it was something that had been mulling in her head. The danger she was experiencing on some of these assignments made her wonder what was the likelihood of her surviving long enough to come back? It wasn't as intense of a paranoia as it was when she resigned herself to an untimely demise within her old home, but it was still a lingering fear. Doubt was an ugly thing and she wished she could be assured that the future was nothing but a bright horizon worth arriving at.

"That's the plan," She finally coughed out, her voice having grown a bit choked as emotion was starting to clog her throat. "I'm supposed to bring back souvenirs when I come back."

"Why not bring me along?" Rosh asked with a cheeky grin.

"You're not a souvenir, Rosh," Jaden intoned with a snort.

"Nah, why can't I come meet your friend?"

A brief bit of hesitation hitched her breath before she looked plainly back at him, "I don't think you'll like the kind of place I lived in."

"So what, my farming community back home is lavish?" He asked indignantly. Turning his seat around to face her, he placed his hands on his knees, looking seriously at her though she could tell it wasn't for a jape like she had done earlier. "Jaden, just because you're in a less than desirable place to be, doesn't make it any less home. We don't get to choose what we call home. It's there and until we let it go, it'll never go away."

It was a surprising thing to hear Rosh speak so profoundly. Bringing a sense of clarity to her, she could only awkwardly nod her head and smile, but chose not to say more on the matter. At the moment, she didn't like anybody seeing her community...or the horrid scar left not a quarter mile away from where millions were ravaged in a level-by-level collapse. The scars of that month left an echo of sorrow and anxiousness; it was something that even kept her from wishing to return enthusiastically back to her dear friend's abode.

Silence returned as Rosh twisted back to look out front, tapping his hands against his thighs. The fidgeting seemed to be his new way of fighting the urge to speak and the Echani-blooded student chose to endure it. The sounds perpetuated through the thrumming of the ship's engine, the hull's subtle vibrations and the gentle whispers of the weaving energy rushing through coils of wires and circuit boards all throughout. She almost was lulled to sleep by basking in this metaphysical connection she was having with the vessel she was piloting.

"Hey, Jaden?"

Then, Rosh spoke up again.

"Mhm?" She murmured out, fully reclined and eyes closed.

"How did you build your lightsaber?"

It was the question that she knew everybody was going to ask at least once after getting to know her. Thankfully, Master Jade's students -the only real acquaintances she's gained that feel like actual comrades in the Academy- never bothered to ask. Kyle was polite enough to skip past the issue altogether and Luke was far too busy to be invested in one student's lightsaber creation.

But Rosh was _Rosh_ , and he was going to ask in just a matter of time.

"Don't laugh," She dryly commanded.

"I promise I will try," Rosh stated with sincerity.

Sighing, she opened her platinum lashes and side-glanced with her right silver eye, "The Force."

"Huh?" He gawked.

"It's the only way I can explain without it sounding crazy. Or stupid. Or both," She iterated slowly, lying back and basking in the intimate awareness her senses had with the rest of the ship's functions and make-up. "One night I was called to a crystal. Once I found it I began having very vivid dreams. I tinkered, collected scrap and commenced to make something that'd use such a wonderful gem as its focus. Guided on a near unconscious way, I'm certain now that I was shown how to make the crystal work with the rest of the components and...then it just worked."

"Huh," He mouthed audibly, sounding more convinced than what her two worded answer had given him. "I thought there was something to it and I guess that's just it. You were a one in a million chance where that kind of thing can work. It's not like there's a history of Jedi that can build lightsabers without instruction, haha!"

His forced laugh made her think if this was something the Jedi Masters of the Academy had to experience firsthand. Building a lightsaber was a precarious task, and if it wasn't for her connection to the Force working in conjunction with her innate ability with machines, it'd likely incur failures. How many attempts would it have taken Master Skywalker, or Master Jade? How lucky was Kyle in creating his own lightsaber?

Without putting much thought into it, Jaden inquired, "Would you mind me teaching you how?"

"How...?" Rosh asked, as if forgetting the connotation that came with the question.

"How to build your own lightsaber, of course," She huffed, opening her eyes and leaning forward to turn in a hunched posture towards him. "I know it's only been a little over a week, and you're more than likely going to learn how to build one in the month. But, since you're going on missions where dealing with Imperials or those Cultists is a real possibility, I think it'd be wiser to start building one now rather than when you fully know how."

"Well, I'm game for it, if you are!" He said excitedly, getting a little exhilarated at the prospect of constructing one so soon.

"I will warn you," The platinum-haired teenager implored, sitting more upright as she kept an even gaze with him. "It took me almost a month to make my first lightsaber. Be prepared for some hiccups that may happen when you're trying your hand at this."

"It's fine. It's like you said," The spiky haired man replied, grinning with a wink at her. "It's better to get ahead of the game than learn it later and not have one when you need it."

"Well, let's at least finish this-"

As she spoke, the signal for their destination's impending arrival rang out across the board. Sliding her hands around with a practiced intuition, her Force enhanced reflexes quickly deceleration. Once it drifted out of the blue stream of fast-paced light, the Academy spacecraft suddenly got sight of Blenjeel. It was a dry, brown looking world and it gave her an uncomfortable reminder of what Tatooine appeared to be.

Rosh fastened his own seat's safety straps while she did the same, her brow furrowing with suspicion as they were heading towards the planet's atmosphere. The other steady blink came on for the Merchant ship's distress signal, allowing her to guide the Yavin Runner II in a straight line. What she expected from this uncharted world's atmosphere was some bumpy entry-

-but instead, it became a sudden torrential shaking that rocked the whole of the vessel. It wasn't even a normal atmosphere rush, it was as if a sudden storm had manifested through the vessel's own magnetic field had excited the particles in the air. The unnatural space-faring creation had caused negative ions to dance erratically, painting the HUD of the ship's blast shield with flashes of lightning that erupted from the layers of atmosphere as they jerked and twisted in the throes of its pressures.

Then, a bolt struck, and she felt her head reel as the whole system let a cascade of critical failures drift all over the Yavin Runner's parts, hull and console software. Non-essential lights bleeped off, the steering wheel crackling in hand as manual steering became a necessity. A defiant lurch upward was made right before the front of the ship impacted a slight slope of sand -that didn't entirely fit the term of a 'Dune'- before flopping on the rest of the sea of grains like a fish. Skidding forward, the whole of the ship finally jerked to a halt, just as the last bleep was heard from the console.

It seems they found their SOS signal.

* * *

"Sith spit!" Rosh cursed, kicking the side of the bulkhead as he began to pace across from Jaden.

"Calm down," She insisted, trying to be the one with the level head of the two.

"Oh yeah. I should stay calm as we just crash landed on an uncharted world with NO distress signal carrier to activate!"

"Stop being melodramatic," The Echani-blooded student turned with a roll of her eyes, hauling a smoking part to pile it with the others. Turning to catch him by the arm, she jerked him still and pointed at the parts gathered at her feet. "Okay, look. I know you're not the grease monkey lizard that I am, but I need you to focus. These are the only things I can't fix. Everything else seems to have only had minor malfunctions when the majority of that electromagnetic surge kicked our systems in the gonads.

"What we need is an energy cell for the cooling unit," She pointed to the charred piece of elliptical metallic framing with shorted out wiring protruding from its rims.

"A power converter," She gestured to an obtuse looking tankard looking equipment, also in a malformed state of discombobulation thanks to the power surge.

"A power coupling for the acceleration compensator," She booted a mangled, Y shaped piece of metal with a now non-blinking light bulb to display its inability to keep doing its assigned task.

"Finally, this dampener for the hyperdrive motivator," Jaden concluded to a nod at a nub-shaped disc resting on a metal plate, also mangled just as much as the rest of the parts.

"Alright, but," Rosh emphatically shook his arms, almost like noodles, as he asked an obvious question. "Where are we going to find those?!"

"These are basic parts for freighters, cruisers and transports," Jaden intoned with a tilt of her plait-braided head to the vacant spots where she tore out the now useless pieces of machinery. "I've salvaged things like this from broken down vessels littering across my home in Coruscant. I even fixed up ships not too dissimilar to this one."

"Just now flown many, right?" Rosh quipped.

"My point, Rosh," She raised her voice, earning a visible recoil from him as she visibly seethed at his glib remark. "The downed Merchant vessel should give us all of the parts we need; probably."

"That's a lot of faith on a probably," He snorted with a dubious stare aimed at her.

"Trust in the Force, Rosh," She half-joked, half-seriously implored him. "We've gotten this far doing that, why stop now?"

Patting him on the shoulder, he sighed with exasperation before following her out of the ship's rear emergency door.

* * *

Upon exiting, it was exactly the kind of space she imagined Blenjeel to be. A sprawling Dune Sea of brown-golden grains, with only the occasional ensemble of boulders, rocky earth and spires of stone protruding from the uneven earth. Even from a basic look from the back of their ship, the pair could tell they were in far better shape than the Merchant's vessel. A quick turn and they saw with an equally shared grimace at the dilapidated corpse of a spacecraft.

It was strewn in tatters and pieces, obviously the result of taking damage from the aforementioned Imperial Interdictor vessel that pulled them out of hyperspace. Jagged pieces of hull plating protruded at odd angles within the loose ground, with pieces of the ship's exterior thrusters half-buried in the sand. The forward half of the ship was far more intact, though was lying at a decline where the dune they had mutually crashed on dipped downward near some rocks and spires of sediment.

Rosh, being the first to cup his hands over his mouth, cried out with inquiry while Jaden's eyes twitched at an odd wrongness that began to fill her pores.

"Hello! Anyone out there?!" He cried out.

"Oh by the Force! Help has arrived!" An older man's voice rang out with near delirious joy. He wore a dirtied, grey-black flight suit and looked to have been sweating with a paled complexion. His grey hair cut short and eyes, even from this distance, widened with manic hope as he hobbled across the sand without any regard to himself.

Just as she felt the sudden throb of alarm fill her being, so did Rosh, at the last possible instant the man stumbled towards their ship's landing plate.

"This place is-!" He barely got out, before the whole of the sand shuddered with an intense vibration. Almost like a quake, it reached the back of their ship, though did little to move it from its secure placement in the loose grains. Instead, it made both Jaden and Rosh wobble on their footholds while it shook the delirious man off his feet onto his back.

In a blur, they'd see the reason why only one merchant rushed out to see them instead of more.

It bellowed out in a guttural roar, uncommon for the shape it came from. Ripped, hardened flesh with gallons of grains flowing off it from the immense momentum it propelled itself out of the ground. Eyeless, the head of the monstrous predator had four mandibles with jagged spikes aligned on them, and an unseen host of inverted teeth that angled down towards the back of its throat. It turned its face briefly in Jaden and Rosh's startled persons before howling at the scuffling man who cried out in terror.

It dove on top of it, burying itself back into the sand and assuredly devouring the man whole. The ground shifted slightly, a deep rumbling echoed across the sandy earth and both students took a few seconds to soak in the event. The last person who was here for them to save, was now worm food; giant worm food.

"Well, we tried-"

"Not so fast," Jaden stopped Rosh as he began to turn to go back inside, grabbing him by the collar. "We still need to go salvage those parts."

"Jaden, I'm not sure if you saw the same I did, but that freak of nature just ate the man!" He cried out in exasperation.

"Then we need to be careful," She pressured, her eyes staring seriously at him. "This ship has the parts here. I can feel it."

Rosh almost thought to question how, but then realized there was a more direct way of telling. Closing his eyes he took a few seconds to pull at the Force flowing through this sandy, abandoned world. Its isolation and dryness led a deceptively rich fuel of life deep beneath their feet. In exchange for sentience a far more savage and vibrant ecosystem existed, deep underneath the empty deserts where creatures born without eyes were able to evolve and adapt methods to sustain themselves in an eat-or-be-eaten world.

Opening his eyes, the pupils contracted and his irises widened, glowing with an effervescent blue over his normally hazel orbs. Turning to look at the Merchant vessel he saw the outlines of the parts that were described to him not long ago. Yes, they were scattered -in no small part thanks to these worms attacking and the ship's own crash landing- but all within not too large of a distance from each other.

"I see them," Rosh noted, getting a smile from Jaden that he could focus enough to tell. "Four of them. The parts you mentioned. Though some of them are in precarious places. How are we going to get to the ones on the sand?"

"Well," She trailed off, pulling out one thermal detonator -part of a bandoleer she never used during their mission on Bakura- and handed it to him. "If they're anything like actual, smaller worms, they rely on vibrations to sense their prey. Throw this on a timer away from you, and that should at least lure them away; if nothing else, it'd be a nice, nasty surprise for them if they try chomping on it."

"You say that like you're not going to get the parts," He pointed out with an accusing glare. "Jaden, you are helping, right?"

"Oh I will," She nodded with a teasing smile. "But you'll be hauling your own weight. I'm looking for the storage of this ship, to see if it has anything of value worth bringing back with us. Once we leave, after all, this will likely be abandoned here."

"Please tell me it'd be worth the effort," He groaned out, not liking the idea of her making him do the legwork.

"I have a hunch," The platinum haired girl sang as she bent her knees and leaped in a dexterous twirl in the air before landing on a nearby boulder. "That it'll help the both of us!~"

Begrudgingly, the pair split up, doing their best to find a proper way to navigate to the essential parts that'd help repair the Yavin Runner II. Rosh angled here and there, relying on his own tools and smarts to avoid being accidentally caught on the open sand without a means of distracting the voracious giant worms. Jaden herself used her innate dexterity in tune with the Force to hop from one jutting piece of metal to another scrapped part of detached flight craft partition.

In the deeper bowels of the ship, Jaden realized the manifesto she studied on the ship during the flight here definitely underestimated the lost cargo's worth. Overturned crates and boxes of hardened sorts were rattled but its contents maintained. Prying one of them open, she looked in and shuffled through the pieces, finding what she was looking for. Hauling the prize out, she looked at what was perhaps a beautiful handful of refined crystals of a deep emerald hue.

Placing it into a pack within her jacket pocket, she continued to peruse the valuables, and garnered enough pieces to meet her demands. Stuffing more into what pockets she could spare, she found a few more essential pieces before hauling them back to their ship. Briefly she heard distant explosions and muffled wails of the earthen beast suffering from burns from the thermal charge's detonation. Prancing back up out of the vessel's guts, she joined Rosh in a Force sprint back to the safety of their craft.

Once they returned, they began to place the pieces back into their designated positions, soon hearing satisfying clicks and thrums of powered activity. Grinning, they exchanged a few looks before they'd start up their ship, taking off out of the sky and past the weave of dangerous electrical currents manifesting in the planet's sky. Once free, they punched in the coordinates to the Academy after hailing Kyle once again.

"Sand Burrowers," Kyle answered their question they had to what the things were. "Nasty critters. Too bad about the merchants, but, these things can happen. We'll let the Republic know about the incident so they can mark Blenjeel as a hazard spot for travelers. Wish we found out where that Interdictor went..."

"You almost done with your mission?" Jaden asked, curious as to when she'd see her teacher again.

"Yeah, just wrapping a few loose ends up. I'll tell you about it next time we meet up," He promised with a grin.

"Sounds good," Rosh chimed in, sounding exuberant despite how obviously tired he was. "We'll be back at the Academy. See ya later, Kyle!"

As soon as the holo-message was disconnected, Jaden cleared her throat and got Rosh's immediate attention. Producing what looked like a deep emerald crystal, the spiky haired man's eyes widened as he took a hold of the gem. It hummed with a deep resonating pressure yet was obviously something that differed from what was an ordinary crystal. Turning to look at Jaden, he asked, "Is this-?"

"A cortosis lined crystal," She explained, pointing at the gem at the faint glittering that differed from the rest of the darker green fixtures. "I thought it was some useful quartz of some kind, possibly a good reflector or sorts, but among the rest of the refined cortosis crystals, I found that. A resonating gem that has the same qualities as one found in a lightsaber!"

"This is great!" He exclaimed excitedly, now looking renewed of vigor despite the very long journey the two of them had. "Is this all we need?"

"I grabbed some other parts lying around, but essentially, yes," She admitted, patting some bulging spots on her jacket she wore. "I have lots of spare scrap back at the Academy, so even if some pieces don't work, we can exchange parts for ones that'd work better. This will be an ongoing project so I hope you're prepared for some tedium."

"I admit, I may be a little impatient," Rosh expressed, palming the green crystal in hand before looking back at him with a broad smile. "But I know it'll take time, and in the end, it'll be worth it."

"That's the spirit," Jaden sang, turning to grab the hyperspace levers, slowly pushing them forward with an audible whir thrumming all around her. "Let's get back to the Academy."

And, in a single bluish streak, both students vanish into hyperspace.

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm pretty satisfied with how this turned out. Not the big action piece some of the others are, but still a character developing one. I can imagine some people are a little anxious to get to the good missions which are coming, trust me. I'm building that up as its own big event and I plan on delivering in a big way.

With Rosh given the materials to construct his own lightsaber, Jaden intends to teach her fellow student on how to construct his very own laser sword. As signs of Imperial activity begin to intensify along with Cultist actions of wrongdoing and illicit movements, it is only a matter of time till the Republic and New Jedi Order become fully entangled with their new enemies. Tune in the next update to see how a simple rumor of a Cultist presence can lead to an intense confrontation!

May the Force be with you!


	10. Chapter 10 - An Elegant Craft

It was a peaceful trip back to the Academy. Despite the anxiety placed on them from being crash landed on Blenjeel with man-eating Sand Burrowers and narrowly foiling a terrorist attack by the Remnant Imperials on Bakura, the pair had much to look forward to. The two had definitely had matured just a bit more, bonding both in and out of conflict, finding common ground and things to empathize with each other.

While Rosh yearned for adventure since being regaled about the legacy of the Jedi since he was young, Jaden was saved by the Force in her darkest moments in her own crowded slab of living space. One sought to be acknowledged and become a Jedi Knight quickly, the other wanted to take each day at a time to get used to her new life. But above all else they shared things together far more endearing than simply a common hatred of Imperials.

Exploring new worlds or areas of places unknown and familiar. The action in exploration itself and discovering new things hiding behind layers of age and overgrowth, lost to time itself. Seeing new species of sentient and non-sentient life intrigued the pair, always wanting to be the first to see an alien or beast none had bore witness to previously. Combat training gave a new kind of discipline and each enjoyed the exercise and ample growth in controlling the Force with every action; even simply sensing things was becoming as common as breathing to them.

But above all else, the one thing geared in the back of their minds was Jaden's proposal of helping Rosh start work on a lightsaber. It was a rare chance that she felt something unusual about the batch of refined Cortosis, its crystals usually resistant to the laser swords of the Jedi and were used as an antagonist deterrent to ward off their blades of light. But, in finding an ore that possessed a single crystal one uses for as a focus for a lightsaber?

It felt like an uncanny hand of fate was driving this to be made happen, she knew it!

Once they arrived back, she took him straight to her room and they both began to make a daily routine of it. Since this was a more delicate matter she decided it best to keep away from her tent-overlapped bed and worked on the workbench installed by Republic resources near the right side of the room. Using the materials she found, she got a few tools she remembered using when crafting her own elegant weapon and brought it to him.

"Now, make sure you install the focus crystal last," She said, pointing to the Force imbued cortosis crystal. "Crafting it from that point on can create power surges to the rest of the mechanisms. Creating the dampeners with the hilt's battery pack will help distribute the energy the crystal produces, and sends it past the coils to form a steady charge. Then, when you have your lenses fastened correctly, the beam will align in the proper length this construct is designed to make."

"Okay," He tried to fathom, smacking his lips as his eyes tried to focus on the parts surrounding the crystal. Furrowing his brow intensely, he popped his mouth and looked at her with a pleading look. "Uh, could you show me how to get to Point A? Maintenance on a pistol is different from this..."

"Sure," She answered enthusiastically, her grin practically beaming at being asked to show how a machine worked. Leaning over she grasped the tools set in front of him, and began crafting a basic outline of the interior, grasping what looked like proper materials for coiling and some wires to connect to the battery. Placing the tools in hand, she gestured to him. "Solder these pieces together, then apply the micro-adhesive to ensure the wiring doesn't get loose. Once that's done, apply some to the exterior of the wiring to form an exterior to keep it from sparking out of control and causing it to short out before even connecting to the rest of the parts."

"Alright, I think I got that," He nodded again, licking his lips as he went about to work on the delicate process she ascribed. Truth be told, she knew it could take awhile if he was careful and making mistakes would multiply that timeline. Even if everything were to go smoothly, she thought construction would be optimally achieved in several days at least of straight work with little rest, and more than likely over a week with moderate attention. This is what she mentally planned out as her eyes watched his hands, analyzing his movements and keeping his movements in check without speaking.

An hour passed and he made steady progress, much to her pleasure. When the soldered pieces were cooled enough for him to apply the wiring he only made a few errors in using the wrong angle and had to dish out more material. Correctly applying adhesive to one point and the other, she was enamored by his precision at following her instructions without any dialogue from him. This was so unlike him she was almost shocked, taking moments to subtly glance at his focused visage constrewed in nothing but attention to his work.

The coils came next, being the power distributors of the weapon. Looping them from the battery, she instructed they had to form a conduit to fasten them within the eventual shell they'd be forming around it. He did have a question, though, regarding this step.

"Why don't we just build the lightsaber then fit the insides into it?" Rosh asked with furrowed and raised pair of brows.

"Good question, to which I answer with my own," Jaden grinned, her platinum brow raising quizzidly as she raised a circling finger for emphasis. "How would you be able to perform maintenance on your blaster's cell depositor if the handle was already in place?"

"Uh, carefully?" He asked in a sheepish rhetorical manner.

"I'm sure older models of blasters had worked like that, but I know mechanisms are more efficient and also more delicate in this era of technology," She explained, taking special care to point to the wiring attached to the battery, now sporting a molded bonding agent thanks to the micro-adhesive they utilized. "It's harder to ensure wiring goes into place when there's a shell of plastic placed over it, right? So we add that later, so it's far easier and saves you the effort of mangling the hardware of your machine."

"Ah, good point," The spiky haired man chuckled awkwardly. "I'm surprised you were never scouted by the Empire with that kind of talent. Are you sure you never got an offer or two by some ritzy corporation?"

"I was self employed," She proudly boasted, nudging him to continue his work as she leaned back to watch him from a more distant perspective. Materials were strewn in a semi-circle near the back of the wall-bolted bench and by the sides, giving him just enough space to work with the desired affects he needed. A wall mounted lamp was highlighting his task, allowing the natural light of her room to be dimmed to a satisfying luminosity.

"My guardian warned me of the Empire when I was very young. He said that, unlike the Republic where you had to only watch out for some key factions within the confusing hierarchy, it was all about a power struggle. Far more vicious, and something I could easily be caught in if I entangled myself with them," She continued to talk, crossing her arms around her chest, watching Rosh continue to tinker without responding from his current process. "If I kept myself independent, then I could hire myself out to anybody the Imperials ignored or were too pricey for them to handle within a reasonable demand. I would research discreetly what their going markets were on the top level, but I'd never go up there myself."

"It explains why you're so pale. You never see much Sun in lower levels of ecumenopolises," He joked, suddenly stopping as he was aware of how rude it sounded. Jolting around, he turned to meekly apologize only for him to be met with a surprising snorting smirk. "Uh..."

"Bad joke, Rosh, and you're not the first person to use it," She stuck her tongue out at him, pointing demandingly back at his desk. As he rolled his eyes and went back to tinkering, she resumed her cross-armed stance, leaning on one jutting hip while the other bent forward slightly. "I'm Echani; well, partly, I think. My guardian never explained why I looked the way I did but someone within the community pointed out and Meelik helped me find some genealogy material. I didn't have the credits to do a DNA tracking or look through the galactic database to find out where my parents were, but I think I kind of tuned it out.

"The only thing that mattered to me is that the Echani are a race of near-humans that all possess a sterling color of white hair and silver eyes with pale skin, only slightly varying from family to family. If I had siblings from the same parent, I'd be nearly indistinguishable from the rest, which is a little weird to me. They seem to be a Matriarchal led confederacy that was allied to the Republic and, consequently, became tied to the Empire after the change of government was made. Martial mastery seems to be what they live for and while I've never been shy to conflicts in the lower levels, I've been more of a tinkerer as you can see."

"So, you never tried contacting them?" Rosh asked, still busy with his current task of aligning coils with the wiring circuitry.

"What's the point?" She asked back rhetorically, expressively waving her hands to embellish her dismissal. "I never had a real family connection other than the community and I barely knew more than a handful of their names. Apart from Meelik, I didn't have a real friend beyond my guardian and when he passed away, I was pretty much on my own."

"But, you said you were partly Echani?" He asked, turning slightly to look at her up and down, checking her sleeveless jacketed, pants wearing person of black fatigue with the hood drawn back -the first outfit she shown him since arriving-. Her hands wore their telltale finger-less gloves and she was still wearing her boots. With her lightsaber hooked idly on her left hip, she arched a brow quizzidly at him, a mirthful smirk armed on her face. "It's not like there's more room for any other genes than human, right?"

"Couldn't figure it out myself," Jaden shrugged, smiling a bit toothily at him in a tease. "Maybe I'm a Wookie that never grew my fur out."

"Har-Har," Rosh barked back in jest, going back to work on his task. It didn't take long for him to press again, even as he finished the third lining of the coils. "I've always taken pride in my ancestry, tying back to the Old Republic and the Jedi. I just didn't think you'd be so quick to just ignore what got you here in the first place, you know?"

"It's not like I have much recollection at all," She admitted, raising a gloved hand and curling her exposed fingers to inspect the peerless pale nails of soft almost glass-like texture. "I think if I knew more I'd care, but since I don't, there's no point on dwelling what I don't have. All I know is that miserable little spot in Coruscant and the only friend in my world is Meelik. My parents could be drunks for all I care cause it doesn't change who I am now."

"But they're still family!" He insisted, finally turning to look at her from the desk with his hands balling the tools in his grip. "You talk alot about Meelik for somebody who doesn't give a care about where you came from! Wouldn't you be happy if you found out your parents were alive?! Wouldn't you be sad if they were dead?!"

"Whoa, Rosh!" She raised her hands up, surprised at the sudden outburst he had. She could feel the energy around him seethe in outrage, like steam from a boiling pot. His eyes shined with incredulity and his voice echoed something akin to pain, confusion and perhaps even sorrow. Lowering them slowly, she asked pointedly. "I-I'm sorry, but I have no memory of who my family was. I had a guardian whom was detached but I was relatively alone in a crowded slab of permacrete and ferrocrete, one of just hundreds on the level I lived on. Why does this matter to you so much?"

Gritting his teeth, Rosh recoiled, as if realizing how he must have looked. Sighing through his nostrils, he turned away, tools at his side and began to talk softly, "My grandfather was a war hero during the Clone Wars. Before that, he galavanted around and explored much of the greater world beyond our boring, peaceful planet. But, when he returned, my mother and father said it looked like he saw ghosts. It wasn't long after that they were told that the Jedi were traitors to the Empire -not the Republic they fought alongside- but _the Empire_!"

Seething in place, Jaden remained silent as Rosh was stewing in a bubbling cauldron of bitterness. It was something she didn't have a comprehension, due to her smattering of memories of being raised in such a poor, desperate and dangerous environment. Imperials made rounds, sure, but they never bothered staying too long. It was next to lawless with only the local community keeping outsiders out and crime committed against them kept to a minimum. The closest she ever truly witnessed of the Empire's oppression was when she journeyed to the higher levels or lower levels, where authorities had more business there.

That, and the horror that was the slab of the highest level careening down past theirs in a molten rain of screams and death.

"Grandfather kept to himself after that, staying with my mother and father way after when I was born. When I exhibited talents in the Force, my grandpa practically wept with joy, telling me that one day I'd be part of the new generation. It's when I learned of all the wonders of the Jedi in the Old Republic, and the horrors of the Empire," Rosh deflated, feeling a bit melancholic as he idly stood there in front of the workbench. Slowly he raised the tools up and returned to busying himself with the tools and the tasks that Jaden instructed him on. "We were questioned at times, by Imperials that descended year to year, checking to see if there were any signs of insurrection. I was worried for my grandfather and the possibility he'd do something stupid or if the Stormtroopers would find our hidden legacy of the Jedi. Every time they appeared, it wore him down and I could see just how bad the betrayal had been for him."

"Is he alright? Your family?" Jaden asked, feeling obliged to inquire despite how sensitive her friend was appearing to be.

"They're still alive," He muttered out, attaching the next ring of the coil together as was necessary. "Grandfather passed away a year ago. He was old, even back when he was in active volunteer duty for the Republic in the Clone Wars. But I honestly think it took too much light out of him, you know? Still, I cherish every moment I had with him. If I forgot him one day, I don't know what I'd do with myself."

Stopping for a moment, Rosh seemed to ponder something.

"Jaden, we should find your parents."

"I told you-"

"But it matters to me," Rosh turned, looking with a half smile at her. "Because I want you to have the same memories that I did. It's not too late to make new ones either. And, even if they're not alive, it'd be a nice thing to give you some closure."

It was something she didn't consider. The disquiet in her heart formed of paranoia, loneliness and fear that crept in around her during the fallout of the Siege of Coruscant weighed heavily on her soul. Had it not been for her sudden fascination with the Force, her construction of the lightsaber and her current journey to become a Jedi, she didn't know what she could've ended up alone in her isolated corner of the galaxy.

Could this give her some peace she ached for? Perhaps, but she knew this wasn't the proper time for it. Maybe, when things have settled and she completed her training, then she could cross the bridge as it came to her.

"Maybe later," She finally resigned, making her spiky-haired companion grin almost childishly as he returned back to his work. "If this Sith Cult means anything its that I have too much on my hands on top of training to add that to the pile. When one of those are resolved, I'll...consider it."

He didn't answer, already busying himself in his work in crafting his future lightsaber. Smiling ruefully, she walked back towards him and continued to observe closely on his given task. She could tell that this friendship, however odd, was perhaps the best thing to happen to her since discovering her destiny at this Academy.

* * *

It had been several days since she returned to the Academy.

Returning back to a more normal pattern of behavior, she'd ascribe to better herself across multiple fields as efficiently as possible. Focusing on the training course, she'd practice lightsaber forms she picked up on holo-pads and paper inscribed texts the Academy had retained. Her timing was becoming more and more sharp, instinctual even. She could start to anticipate the remotes' varying patterns and their shots, no matter their numbers of placement. Taking some moments to breathe in between she'd let in the Force in specific areas, becoming attuned to them and gaining more clarity so she could summon its strength easier in new environments.

While Rosh seemed to dominate her work space -large in part to fit her demands to keep track of his progress and correct his mistakes easier- she took it upon herself to enter her Peace Dome placed bed to tinker whether he was there or not. Occasionally they'd be visited by their fellow Kel Dor student of Master Jade's, Dars Razz. This inevitably led to some bantering interaction when the other two fellow students, Ral Theron and Cale V'eel, as they'd make jeering comments to the both of them -though more or less aimed mostly at Rosh- for pure jest. It was a pleasant enough ritual and improvement could already be seen in Rosh's careful creation thanks to her constant supervision.

A pleasant warmth was replacing the gnawing aches that had festered within her soul. Bit by bit, she was starting to become accustomed to life here at the Academy and finding it difficult to long for her old home. The only thing she wished now was for Meelik to be here, to experience this new wonderful life; at the very least, she wished to thank him for pushing her to do what she lacked the strength to do on her own.

As the fourth day rose up, she had almost forgotten that she left Rosh unattended. Tumbling out of her tent-erect bed with a clumsy thud, she scrambled on all fours to see that he was still at it, though having sat on a stool instead of standing up like he usually did. She wondered if he got any sleep as she meandered her way over to her room's workbench.

"That's a nice exterior you got going," She complimented, working past an encroaching yawn as her eyes blinked in the faint light shining on the desk. Hearing no response, she looked over and saw him intently fixated on the task. Poking his cheek, she saw him jerk in place, twitching almost erratically with surprise; one that turned into deflation as Jaden couldn't suppress a giggle at his lack of awareness. "Morning, Rosh."

"Ah-!" He gasped, suddenly glancing at his holo-pad lying face down next to the discarded scrap. Flipping it up, he groaned as he faceplanted onto the desk with a rattling thud, parts vibrating ever-so slightly along with the saber he was constructing. "I didn't sleep the whole night."

"I told you to take it easy," Jaden tsk-tsk'd with her tongue as she shook her head. Placing hands on her hips, she turned her neck to the side while giving him a fascitious grin. "That's not a very Jedi thing, you know? To lose yourself in your work that you lose awareness of your surroundings."

"You're sound like the other teachers," He mumbled from the desk, finally raising up to look at his current hilt. It was halfway built from what he considered, with part of the exterior wrapped finely around the lower half of the blade's handle. He was struggling what -if any- kind of grip he'd make from the handle without comprising the structural integrity of the components inside? It was his stumped point that led him to stare for hours after achieving so much progress...

"Want my advice?" She asked pointedly.

Blowing a raspberry, he looked over with an arm leaning on the bench, waving the other with exasperation, "Sure, why not?"

"Your saber's exterior is shaping up to be something that is easier to grip for your choice of sleeves, wrapping around your palms to buffet strain. I suggest you make it out of some sort of plasteel, to ensure it's both flexible to join in segments and durable when molded together," She explained with a few twists of her hands.

"I'll give it a shot," He nodded with thanks.

A knock at the door caused Jaden to almost lurch. The guttural suave tone, however, let her know whom was behind the entrance before she even sought the muted grey signature that lied beyond sight.

"Hey Jaden. You free today?"

"Uh, sure," She mulled aloud, looking down at herself and realizing she slept in her own clothes instead of changing; she knew they needed a wash, but she felt distancing herself from Rosh could help them both. The tension of this project was wearing on them and they both needed some inspirational change of pace.

Exiting the door with a flick of her wrist off the mechanism, Kyle smiled almost wryly at the sight of Rosh busying himself at the workbench. She just rolled her eyes and elbowed his shoulder, causing him to chuckle with a grimace. Leaving it with a whooshing motion, she looked back at him with a curious raise of her brow.

"So, what mission did you need help with?"

"What? Can't I take you somewhere that isn't official business?" He asked coyly.

"It's been two weeks, practically, so I've come to expect it's always about the mission," She assured him without skipping as much as a beat.

"Well, you're not wrong," Kyle sighed, scratching his beard with an upraised gloved hand. "We got tipped off by numerous eyewitness accounts of the Disciples of Ragnos active within Corellia's major city, Coronet. It's a glittering gem that not even the Empire could taint on the surface but its underworld has left a much to be desired aftertaste. Because of the scale of sightings and conflicts the Republic to the Jedi Order has had with the Remnant and their mutual allies, this may just be paranoia gripping relatively safe citizens of Coronet City. But if its not..."

"Better be safe than sorry," She finished his trailing thoughts, already smiling mirthfully back at him. "I'm piloting."

"Oh no you don't," He jocularly sneered, thumbing towards his bearded face cheekily. "We're flying in _my_ ship, not that airbus you call a starship."

"Your ship?" The Echani-blooded student questioned almost incredulously.

"Don't give me that look," He dismissed with a visible expression of displeasure. "I'm not some nerfherder who won a hunk of junk in a game of Pazaak. I got this baby with my wife after we took down Jerec, though that's a story for another time-"

"YOU'RE MARRIED?!"

"Indoor voice, Jaden!" Kyle rebuked as he lurched back at his wholly surprised student's reaction. As she sheepishly turned to see some distant students give her looks, she hunched her head forward and squeaked out a meek apology that Kyle just rolled his eyes at. "Yeah, I'm married. I don't like broadcasting my relationship due to it getting in the way of me teaching either of you. Besides, we only get to see each other on occasion, as we are very much married to our careers as we are to each other."

"Is...is that who you were with that whole time?" Jaden asked with bewilderment.

"How about I tell you all about that once we take off?" He inquired, leading her to the hangar of the Academy in a few minutes of swift walking. Reaching the old space where the Alliance's fleet of fighters were once parked -now full of transports and miscellaneous fighters lent by the New Republic- they'd see it stick out.

It was a light courier, with an angular nose that was almost blade-shaped as it jutted back to a pair of small extensions that housed enormous engines, whose thrusters were easily as large as the cockpit's head. With X-wing like flight wings branching off the port and starboard thrusters, its black tinted palatte with a red accent running under the main body to the ship's nose made it very distinct and quite perhaps the more 'attitude' kind of starship she's seen. Even the Falcon didn't have this kind of personality; though she wondered if that was a fair comparison, either way.

"Yeah, she's a beaut', ain't she?" He asked with a sigh of pride, hands on his hips as he took in his ship's appearance. He took notice in his periphery a telltale twitch at her fingers and the spark in her eyes. Pursing his lips and furrowing his brows, he jabbed his gloved hand towards her face and said in a quiet, clear voice. "Don't dismantle it."

"Fiiiiiiiiiiiiine," She groaned out, joining him in the upward climb to the ship's canopy, where it was unfastened back to front and allowed them to seat properly. Once the ship thrummed to life, a jolt of exhilaration took hold of her from the legs up her chest. The momentum quickly kicked up as the ship's engines, the flames turning blue along the front and back of the powered ion mechanisms, propelling them along the treetops till they penetrated the sky into the vacuum of space.

* * *

It was a significant jump necessary to move from the Outer Rim to the Core, thus giving Kyle ample time to embellish his clandestine adventure with his aforementioned wife. He started with introduction to who they were in a simple layout; he was a mercenary, hired on by the Rebel Alliance through their handler of one Jan Ors, who helped him see the necessity of allying with these people. Once he helped strike some critical blows against the secret war effort of the Empire, he had been stuck with Jan and the Alliance ever since.

After alluding that some time passed that led to them getting married, the pair had met up in a joint operation of the two, tailing some lead on a gangster that got it in his head that he could absorb the warring rival factions while they were squabbling. It wouldn't have mattered had it not be investing in the scraps of one said former Hutt's properties and investments falling into their hands, thus being ferried back to an unthinkable amount of others in the broader underworld that'd infest themselves in the Republic's citizens' lives. They finally pulled the sting, cornering the gangster back with a large mob of thugs, and they had to fight back to back, with a particular minion aiming to hit him from behind.

By this point in the story, they had already reached their destination. Corellia was a beautiful terrestrial world, with green continents and vast oceans, making it a highly desirable place to not only live but for vacations by those of a more expensive root in society. In the Empire's case, it also held the strategic importance of having lunar-like rings of massive shipyard docks that singlehandedly pumped out a massive percentage of the Imperial fleets' starships. Once it had been reclaimed by the New Republic, it now served the purpose of creating more vessels for planets needing individual protection from the Remnant, rival factions like pirates and mobs, to even unknown interstellar menaces.

The spot of such toursim -and their destination- lied in the glowing city of Coronet. Practically alight even from space with its industrialized splendor and majestic architecture, they had to unfortunately descend when a storm front had encompassed the skyline of the beautiful city. Reminding her of the surface of Coruscant's own cityscape, in a way, she felt a tinge of nostalgia among her viewing of spires of metal and glass rose up, passing them by at an acceptable pace within aerial traffic. The sheets of rain pelted the Raven's Claw, bombarding the canopy in front and over their heads as Kyle continued to regale his tale, approaching the clincher as he currently allowed the auto-pilot to circumnavigate the bustling metropolis of Coronet.

"And then," He continued, pulling back a gloved fist before making a mock jab with a cheeky grin. "He punched the Weequay right in the-!"

" _Can anyone hear me?!_ " A voice crackled to life over the open-comm of the courier's cockpit, causing both Kyle and Jaden to exchange a look as they heard the broadcast in full. " _You've got to inform Coronet security! Somebody is trying to blow up the tram!_ "

It took a few seconds to notice the fluctuations within the fast pace momentum her senses took place to notice something they were strafing nearby. Of the more convenient modes of travel and transportation of goods, the light-trams were carrying dozens of cars along cobalt lit lines that the vehicle was suspended off of. Even from this distance, they could tell the outlines of all-too familiar mercenary ships, seemingly dropping improvised explosives to rattle and shake the durable freight transport with bombing runs. Others had dropped off men in the same uniforms as the ships she saw, and now made it clear that the sightings were indeed authentic.

"It looks like the light-tram is under attack," Kyle stated the obvious, bending the ship around in an arching swerve towards the back of the train. Opening the canopy, the whipping wind lapped over their faces and the feel of pelting rain made her feel a lurch in her stomach of discomfort; the howl of the train's momentum didn't add any encouragement either. Looking to Jaden, he spoke with authority like she hadn't seen until now. "I'm going to do what I can to stop those merc ships from making anymore attacks or drops! You clear this train out of mercs or cultists you see! Do you understand?!"

"Yeah, I understand you want me to fight on a moving train that may explode!" She exclaimed, her eyes widened to emphasize her alarm. The platinum haired woman felt her plait soak in the exposed wave of rain and wind, tumultuously impacting her with the force of what she assumed could've been a hurricane. Briefly flashing her eyes at the rear car and then back at Kyle, she saw him flash a toothy grin, urging her to cry out indignantly. "ARE YOU INSANE?!"

"Did you know I singlehandedly stormed an Imperial superstructure that held the Death Star codes? Without the Force?" He asked back over the roar of the speeding train and the high velocity propelled rain. Shaking his head, he patted her with a gloved hand on her shoulder. "Just take it one step at a time, kid. You'll do fine. Just make sure you don't let the train blow up, kay?"

Letting out an unintelligible growl loose from her lips, Jaden stood up and steadied herself. Even from this distance she could feel a careless misstep could send her careening off into the steel metropolis below. Closing her eyes, she inhaled, ignoring the soaking rain and biting wind that clawed at her nerves. The warmth she was familiar with filled her up, like a gourd taking in a river's water or a bottle filled up with warm wine. Then, she exhaled, as she leaped from the Raven Claw's cockpit seat and aerodynamically flipped in a graceful twirl to land in an angled crouch.

She heard the roaring thuum of Kyle's ship take off, already busy engaging the merc transports. Standing upright, she saw the metal-slits of an over-cap of a burgundy-brown dressed mercenary, the same uniform the other humans wore back at the hangar of the Mos Eisley dock. Walking up to the door, she noted it didn't open automatically as intended. Taking a look at the obvious lever through the door, she looked back at the merc.

He raised his rifle expectantly.

Without batting an eye, Jaden blankly stared at him and waved her hand in a curling motion back to her face. The arching gesture compelled the Force to yank the man by his weapon, causing him to stumble towards the sealed entry. Making another swift clawing thrust, she telekinetically pushed the lever back, disabling the lock. By the time the man stopped himself from running into the door, the entrance opened and allowed a swift kick to his bent head to be landed.

She watched him soar back, having forgotten she was freely using the Force when acting, as his neck was snapped back and his body pinwheeled across a luminescent lit corridor of the rear car. Crashing with a cracking thud, the weapon clacked noisily to the side, causing her to bend down and pick it up. Apart from her DL-44 pistol, she had forgotten to bring any other armaments; she hoped she could scavenge some equipment on the way, if the mercs are generous enough to do so.

Walking up some stairs, she passed through another doorway, this time in a more dimly lit vaulted car where it looked like droids were stored in enclosed angular grated casings. In between the spaces of these leaped out a pair of uniform human mercs, also armed with E-11's. They must have heard the noise as they readily opened fire at her, as she stepped side to side in anticipation of their attacks.

Firing a triage of blasts from her rifle, she watched them howl in agony as their death throes left them clumping onto the floor. Passing the scorched chests, she picked up what Energy Cells she could to keep for ammunition, rushing past a pair of concealed droids that were active and very confused by the breach of protocol. Ignoring them, she pressed on, exiting the car and back into the pelting rain.

A Weequay and a Rodian began firing at her from the opposite car, on an upper level beyond her ability to reach. Backing into the doorway, she used the automatic sliding plating to absorb shots before returning back. The exchange lasted longer than she'd like, as her shots weren't as accurate from this distance and the added momentum of the train with the coupled wind's velocity. Blaster fire scorched the surface of the train, sizzling in the moisture that cooled the super-heat of plasma and ion burns.

Watching one of her shots finally hit the Weequay in the shoulder before striking his leathery grey face, his scream was sent hurtling into the skyline of the passing towers of Coronet. Then the Rodian got shot in the knees, forcing him to tumble and also fall shrieking to an eventual if not quick impact. Seeing no one else take shots, she came back out and raised an arm to shield her face from the rain. Seeing a pair of energy rods connect one car to the other, she knew she'd have to balance herself on them if she was to make it across.

"This! Is! The! Worst!" She bit out, steadily bolting across while wholly relying on the Force to not let her slip up and fall to her own demise.

Passing beneath the two-story car, she ducked and weaved passed more mercenaries, relying on subtlety to escape attention. The chaos of Kyle's passing Courier taking pot shots at the rotund shuttles seemed to have them all in a buzz. If she was lucky, she'd not have to fight through all of them, and find a way to possibly stop the train to help deal with them better before something got seriously damaged.

Getting past the pair that were on the other side -somehow unaware of the firefight made not more than twenty meters behind them-, she stowed away her E-11 and withdrew her lightsaber. There was a merc that was trying to listen to his mask-attuned comm, tilting away to look at the speeding blurs that was the ships overhead and the Raven Claw. Muttering something low, she made a quick running leap and ignited her blade.

Just in time to see his shocked expression before she plunged the alabaster beam sword deep into his chest cavity and out the other side. Choking on blood, he'd fall back from the bodily impact she had on him, dropping with a clanking thud too small of a decibel to be heard over the thunderous cracks of energy ribbons cascading around them. She hadn't noticed until now, but the storm seemed to siphon onto the energy rods that propelled the beam-tram, absorbing it into the metal and defusing it before it could surge into the cars themselves.

Shuddering about how quick she was to be electrocuted earlier, she looked around and saw no discernible way to move around or through this particularly large car. Seeing a couple of ledges she huffed and leaped up, grabbing one by a hand and throttled herself up with a burst of Force Jump.

Somersaulting onto the top of the car, she'd suddenly feel an eerily familiar cold sensation sweep over her pores. The cracking hiss of a saber being charged was heard before she'd see its red blade, oozing vapor with the rain touching his energy weapon. Clothed in the same robed materials as the last two acolytes she dealt with, she felt as if the pattern of their outfits and weapons were mainstreamed if only because they were a cult.

"Stand aside!" She yelled out, as per her custom to give one chance to every foe who didn't outright attack her. "I don't want to fight you, but I will if you stand in my way!"

"I felt you coming, Jedi," The Cultist replied with a curled grin behind his soaked veil, his eyes knitting as he raised his weapon in an upright grip of both hands. "In the name of Ragnos, I will stain my body in the blood of your Order!"

Without wasting time talking to a lunatic, she hurled herself forward, igniting her weapon once again to combat the Force User.

In the time she spent in between her missions, she had begun to take into the action of fighting like a Jedi, adopting the basic sequences in known Lightsaber Forms. Emphasizing her upgrade of skill, she locked her saber in a series of parries and swerving arcs, all aimed to help her gauge the level of skill or intent of her enemy. This was Form I, Shii-Cho, and it was the most basic, something she had unintentionally leaned into using when she had first called upon the Force to fight the first cultist and the Jedi Training Droid.

Her peerless white blade cracked and snapped in hasty repetition, frustrating the acolyte visibly as his own momentum was rebutted by her balanced choice of combat. Instead of taking advantage of her charge into a full assault, she had stopped just when he'd lean in and began to lock him in place. He could neither back away, nor press further, as she was fully encompassing the space they were standing upon as her field of effect.

Letting out a howl, he shouted a curse as he backed up a meter before forward flipping in the air, intending to land a passing slash towards her at the risk of his own injury. Without any real mastery, he had entered using Form IV, Ataru and clumsily at that. In his anger to enhance his prowess of motion and aim through the Dark Side, he had blinded himself to the effect he telegraphed himself not only through body language but his intent in the Force itself.

Thus, Jaden shifted to Form II, Makashi, and leaned her body's weight to her left knee while keeping her right extended from her original point. Lifting her blade up with both hands, she blocked his shoulder aimed stroke, gliding the laser sword across his in a shower of sparks and crackling plasma. And, when he had all but was parallel to her veering form, she altered the emitter just enough to phase her weapon past his and land a killing stroke across his throat. From the momentum itself, she'd not even get a chance to see his head separate from the cauterized stump, as both body and skull flew with his saber off the car to tumble down into the rapidly disappearing ground of Coronet City below.

" _Somehow I doubt it'd be this easy, if I found one so soon,_ " She thought, defusing her blade as she braved the top of the glass surfaced car. Indeed, as she continued her movement from car to car, she had to engage and sneak past a number of foes. They were all the same motley selection she dealt with back at Mos Eisley, so none of them truly surprised her. Weapons were just dangerous enough to be cautious but their lack of order and proper armor made them easy to deal with in isolation.

Even as she traversed from one car to the next, she saw a violent explosion of a shuttle being torn to shreds by the Raven's Claw, echoing with Kyle's laughter over her personal comm.

"Too easy!"

"Glad one of us is having fun," She remarked back, only earning more guffaws from her master.

Barreling down a walkway, she cursed aloud as she'd reignited her blade once more, releasing beautiful swift arcs of white to be painted in the space around her. A Rodian, a Weequay and a Human had exited the entrance of the opposite car, all releasing a barrage of shots ranging from bowcaster slugs, E-11 bolts and Disruptor beams. She had to use her instinctual, though admittedly not as practiced, Form III Soresu. It was a simple effect, where one used their reflexes -swift and accurate- to reflect and deflect incoming blaster fire and repel anything that couldn't be by a saber through the Force.

Redirecting the bowcaster's shots into the Disruptor armed Rodian, the wiry thin body of his pale jumpsuit form was quickly ricocheted by the force of the emerald rotating chakrams of light. Using the same firepower against the Human merc, the Weequay panicked, attempting to head back inside to escape death. This only ended in him being shot in the back as Jaden quickly unholstered her DL-44, hitting him four times in the span of a two seconds from the skull down his spine.

Blowing the vanishing vapor exuding from the wet gun's barrel, she holstered it, smirking a little to herself of how proud she was that the Force allowed her to make those kinds of shots from this distance.

With her blade still lit, she made a cautious hop from the end of the descending ramp of the train car to the next, finding a very well lit open chamber that seemed to be power generators -not much different from the rear most car- that helped keep the beam-tram moving pumping with luminous cobalt light thrumming around broad coils. They passed along flooring in thick tubes, descending along yellow-black cautionary painted lines over a floor-lit pathway that led from the car out to the others.

The thing that stood out was at the center where two particular power cables presided, was an alarmingly familiar explosive device, rigged with a simple crank mechanism and three jugs of volatile pale yellow liquid. Even from here, she could tell it was primed and possibly near ready to be detonated at a moment's notice.

Gritting her teeth, she rushed in, only to be blindsided by a sudden blast of Force that sent her bodily crashing into the base of the back-most power generator.

"You were a fool coming here!" The Acolyte cried out, twirling the hilt of his blade before igniting it with a single deliberate jab of his thumb to the switch.

"You're the fool, trying to stop me," She muttered back brusquely, turning her face from the indention her body had made against the metal and power coils. Her black sleeveless, leather robed frame flickered a brief emerald, signifying her impulse to activate Protection, cushioning the impact to a mitigating bruise on her right side. Rising up, she raised her still active weapon, casting a white halo in the artificial gleam of their surroundings.

Tossing the blade in a horizontal arc, the acolyte laughed as Jaden swung her blade around in a defensive arc, making a thrashing contact. Twisting around he'd hurtle bolts of lightning from his hand, forcing her to raise her weapon in defense, coiling currents rushing into the Force fed light and defusing the Dark Side ability. With his weapon back in hand, the cultist leaped up in the air, Force-fully clinging to the ceiling before forward flipping around and sending the saber spiraling back down at her again.

Seeing his intention, she was prompted to use one hand to deflect it from her upper body before twisting around to lance an arm towards his dexterous motion. The sudden push he felt made him tumble into the power generator's face, the flying laser sword defusing in mid-air as a response to a lack of tether connecting it from its master; all the while he howled with agony as his defenses were nullified and he was being electrocuted in the sparking and arcing bolts of blue and white from the coils. Not relenting a moment, Jaden utilized her own emotions to intensify the push, folding the generator in and around him as more power was diverted from the car into scorching him into ash, his howls turning into pain ridden shrieks.

As the power dampeners kicked in, breaking power off from the damaged conduit, she heaved and lowered a shaking hand, seeing nothing remaining other than burnt meat and blackened cloth.

"Jaden, update?"

"There's a bomb on here," She replied, recuperating while she could as she staggered over to the bomb proper. Grasping the crank, she pulled the lever up and heard the familiar tonal drop of the whirring mechanisms. Seeing the chemicals cease bubbling, she sighed in relief, tapping the comm once again to help confirm with Kyle. "Huh, that wasn't so bad, all things considered. Mission accomplished."

A sudden lurch in the car and the cars behind her, suddenly made her stomach drop for numerous reasons.

"Bad news, Jaden," He rang, confirming her fears as her heart sank. "The Cultists are speeding the beam-tram. At this pace, I won't be able to catch up to them myself before they ram it into the upcoming station. You'll need to slow it down before that happens."

"Back to work I suppose!" She cried out, waving her arms exasperatedly with her still-lit lightsaber in hand.

The next several cars had Weequay, Rodian and Human mercs all working in pairs with each other. In more uniform terms, they were actually cooperating and making it more hazardous for Jaden to simply take it easy. As the speed was amplified, she threw out some Force pushes and sent them tumbling off the edge when she could while deflecting and slashing the rest as she quickly moved up to the last car. She didn't keep count, but if she had to guess it was nearly a dozen goons before she finally caught sight.

This time, she caught sight of the last remaining set of enemies. Normal mercs had hauled out weapons, one of which was an Imperial Repeater and another an E-11, lying at ground level. Standing defiantly at the top of the opening to the car was the last Acolyte, staring downward with a cognizant malicious intent. As she took care of the last pair of minions, she flipped over to the car, watching the Sith Cultist hop down with lightsaber activated and crashing down on top of hers.

Cracking and slashing, hissing and sparking, the pair's weapons made a chaotic weave of movements within the space of the car's outside and near interior. The rain and wind was all but unnoticed as the Force compelled them to fight unabated, filled with a supernatural surge of stamina, strength and vigor. The amount of times their weapons struck was far faster than common soldiers could manage, and even masters of swordsmanship would stare in awe at the most basic of sequences exchanged.

Still, the urgency of the matter took precedence in the platinum haired Echani's mind. Deciding to gamble, she swiftly altered the length of her weapon in an aggressive lurch forward. Parrying while moving to tackle, she inverted the grip before twisting around, pulling back with a broad twist of the emitter's length from small to maximum length. The white light painted an arc through the air, cutting through the thick metal plating of the train's entry in a howling crunch and sudden hiss, blocking out the sizzle of meat and dismemberment of her shocked foe.

As he tumbled face first to the ground, she was wondering if any of these acolytes knew how to use the Force like Jedi. If it wasn't for that fearful memory of their leader striking her with the raw potency of the Dark Side, she would underestimate them. But low, not only had they the effect of concealing their presence until the last moment but also had just enough skill to perfect a single ability to at least obstruct her own progress.

Pushing aside thoughts of the greater scheme of things, she finally disengaged her weapon's power and hooked it onto her belt. Walking in a fast paced jog inside the cockpit -for lack of a better word for her limited knowledge of beam-trams- and yanked back on the accelerator throttle. Already she could feel the transport whir in deceleration, moving slowly back to a normal momentum and apart from the deadly velocity.

"That was too close," She confirmed over the comm, seeing the outline of the Raven's Claw as it caught quickly back to her view.

"Nice work, Jaden. I took out those ships so I think we're in the clear."

"I hope this trend of terrorism isn't going to be a regular thing for these cultists," She shuddered, remembering already back to the recent mission she had with Rosh on Bakura. "At this rate, I'm not sure if we can stop all of these attempts of sabotage and slaughter."

"Leave worrying like that to us masters," He reassured her, angling his craft to be just within reach for her to leap back on. Once she summoned up the will to do so, she jumped back onto the seat and basked in the relief of being out of the rain once the canopy closed over them both. As Kyle issued out the proper reports and making an obligatory sweep to ensure that was the last attempt, she attentively turned back and looked back at him expectantly.

Then, Kyle smiled wryly and returned to tell the end of his story.

* * *

 **A/N** : And that is Chapter Nine! I know officially it's Chapter 10 if we include the Prologue, but I like counting chapters that have actual story stuff in them as opposed to me inserting what is just world building and character development that didn't exist in the Academy game. Don't get me wrong, I love the Dark Forces saga, but Academy was probably by far the weakest written of the games (Yes, even Outcast has better writing).

I liked writing the beginning where Jaden and Rosh hash out some more feelings about themselves, their past and what they intend to do in the future. With Jaden's lineage being a mystery and Rosh's being cemented in the legacy of the Jedi, it's pretty clear why they act so differently. Still, their bond is growing and the progress on Rosh's lightsaber is improving every step of the way. A nice break from that came in the best mission set in my opinion in terms of difficulty and best pacing, the Coronet City Train Mission.

Not one, not two, but three Acolytes on top of a slew of mercs gunning for you, blocking your path and forcing you to keep track of their fire while precariously hopping from one spot to another that could end in certain doom? Hell yes! Also, the fun you can have by knocking them off the edge and hear their dying screams as their bodies fall off was its own reward enough. Very fun level, and it was trimmed just enough so you all got the taste of that same urgency (without the puzzle solving that the game put in to pad the level out).

Come in next time to see the next stage of the game's progress, as Luke makes an important discovery and all the students are required to participate. What is this epiphany, and how will Jaden fair on her own this time? Find out, in the next chapter of Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Temptations!


	11. Chapter 11 - An Icy Reception

Something was wrong.

Ever since she left Coronet City with Kyle, away from Corellia and back to Yavin IV, she got the distinct impression something bad was happening. The pattern of increased Disciples of Ragnos activity and Remnant affiliated strikes from the outer perimeter of Wild Space, across the Outer Rim and even into the Core World, this union of madness was greater than she suspected. Whatever happened that day she and the other students arrived on the first day at the Academy.

It was confirmed during their escape from hyperspace to come immediately to the meeting chamber. Luke himself had sent out a pre-recorded message throughout their private channel of the holo-net. A grave discovery had been made and it was said to change the course of their designated missions.

Without conversing further, teacher and student landed in the hangar, being among a slew of others that arrived at similar times to them. Students all congregated together in clumps, flowing forth to the exit of the bay towards the broad temple corridors. Whispered talk was being made that Jaden could hamper a guess at. Nothing was confirmed beyond speculation, until they all stood in direct attention in the light of the Yavin Sun's gleam through the cracks of the chamber, partially illuminating the otherwise moderately lit chamber of stone and mortar they all convened in.

Making out a head count, she could tell nearly everyone was present. The teachers, unlike before, stood near their students and only had Luke stand on the podium ahead of their gaze. This let all eyes focus on a single individual much easier and see the graveness etched on the Grandmaster's wearied features. He must have not slept at all for days at least, and the paleness over his face emphasized just how damning the implications could be.

But, once the last of the expectantly arrived pupils had trickled in, Luke's countenance changed and his face became a mask of serenity once again. It amazed her how quickly the man could disregard his own fears and embrace his role as leader so easily. Or rather, it was perhaps his greatest strength to be a beacon of hope and optimism in such a dire world they lived in.

"Thank all of you for coming so quickly," He began, sounding sincere in his thanks. "I know you're all making remarkable progress in your training. Some of you are even excelling in ways beyond my wildest expectations. The good you've done in the galaxy -in the New Republic and beyond- has already made a noteworthy impact. But, in my haste to make sure the future generation had been guided safely here over two weeks ago, something happened that escaped my notice until a few days ago."

As if on cue, a chirping series of beeps and warbles was heard to the side, drawing all eyes to the shadow of the platform they all had neglected. With a nearly theatrical reveal, an astromech droid of short rotund shape of white tint and blue accents rolled up on its tripod coasting feet. Standing upright, it'd let the miniature holo-projector next to its red blinking optic widen and spray a series of holographic images in front of the masses, overlapping the space in between the stairs between students, masters and the Grandmaster.

"Those are-"

"-planets!" Ben Hurr began to say, only to be cut off by Rosh.

"Correct, Rosh," Luke intoned vocally, his eyes briefly staring through the blue-tinted imagery separating them before focusing on oscillating spheres or shapes of many kinds to the lot. Shifts on feet, eyes exchanged with one another and a few whispers were muttered but nothing of loud interruption was made. Seeing no one else had anything to say, he gestured with a black gloved hand for explanation. "On a hunch, I had R2 conduct a data scan in case anything was out of place for the day the Academy was upended by your less than graceful entry here. It seems that, while we were all worried for your safety, we neglected to notice someone or something entering my private chambers and swiping my journals; astro-logs listed there to places I've been since my early days as a Jedi in training."

"Ha!" Rosh chuckled out, much to the chagrin of a nearby of Jaden nearby him. "What are they going to get besides a tour?"

"Something nasty!" Kyle rebuked with a serious tone embellishing his words. It was enough to make Rosh's -admittedly tired looking face- resume a more placid expression of submission of quiet. Before anything could be said further between them, Luke continued to hypothesize.

"I believe the staff Jaden saw was being used to drain the residual Force power from the Massassi temple," He theorized, concluding something the platinum haired woman she herself was suspecting almost a week ago.

"Drain the Force?" Ben inquired with near disbelief. "How can anyone do that?"

"I'm not sure," Luke grimaced with visible concern, before illuminating everyone with what he did know. "I've taken a look through a Jedi Holocron, and based on evidence supplied within such devices and techniques were developed to harvest the Force for different purposes. Whatever this Cult of Ragnos is doing, they've been using harnessed Force energy."

"That doesn't sound good," Kyle acknowledged aloud, grasping his jaw as he rubbed it with a visible look of displeasure. "Last time that happened, we had The Reborn. I'd hate to see whatever they could do with any amount of Force power they can gain simply by visiting pockets of concentrated auras throughout the galaxy. Especially the places you've been in."

"It'd likely lead to a catastrophe greater than the Empire's doomsday weapons," The Grandmaster confessed, looking more fiery as he looked at the expressions of fear and uncertainty within the students. Though, one stood out, of white hair and silver eyes, that looked on with a spirited determination within the masses. It caught his eyes long enough to see her finally find her voice and speak over the congregation's spread whispers of unintelligible dialogue.

"So what are we going to do?" Jaden Korr asked, making Rosh look around with surprise and Kyle smile wryly at her enhanced grit.

"We'll have to investigate any location located within my journal's astro-logs," He said plainly, smiling briefly before returning to his more stoic mask as he gestured to all those present in the chamber. "That includes all of you students."

Luke began to list off a number of destinations, near and far, known and unknown to the congregation of Jedi present. She noticed that not only were a good dozen or so students not present in the bulk but the Jedi Knights she's seen wandering the halls and hangar of the Academy were never seen ever since she returned. They were likely still tied up with tasks given to them by the New Republic and couldn't make it, thus the necessity of all hands on deck for this new directive given by the Grandmaster.

"Kyle," His voice regaining Jaden's attention as the two Jedi Masters locked gazes with one another. "You're going to the Valley. Much as I hate to admit that your trust in me has possibly led to a disaster I didn't foresee-"

"They wouldn't be the first to try and obtain power from that place, they likely won't be the last," Kyle's grizzled voice ebbed out smoothly, dismissing Luke's attempt of an apology while smiling broadly at his old friend's direction. "Trust me, I got this."

"Very good," He nodded with thanks.

It wasn't until most if not all people had been assigned that Jaden's thoughts had kept her unaware of where everyone else was going. She was still wondering what they could achieve with all this power, let alone the chaos they've been stewing within the greater New Republic. Was it all just distractions, to keep them unaware of their true goals? OR were they a means to an end to help further their plans?

"Finally," Rosh enthused, his spirit rekindled with vigor as he joined Jaden at her side with a cheery grin. "Some _real_ action! This is the kind of stuff I signed up for!"

"If its power they want, why do they need so much?" She finally asked Rosh, ignoring his statement entirely in favor of voicing her own concern. He quieted a bit, hearing him out as he placed his hands on his hips while bodies moved to and fro within the chamber, some quietly trickling out of view. "If its purely just power, I can't imagine they'd be lacking any by simply calling upon the Force. But the fact they need that staff means they want to use it for something special. But I can't imagine what they want!"

"I dunno," The spiky-haired teen chuckled, raising a hand to nudge her in the shoulder with a wink. "You worry too much, Jaden. In case you haven't noticed, these cult-guys can't take on a real Jedi. Even if their boss is a toughy, I bet any one of our masters could beat him down in a single stroke."

"Well _they_ may stand a chance but _we_ aren't Jedi yet," She corrected Rosh, much to his visible contorted chagrin. "We're just students."

"You may be just students," Kyle commented, walking up with Luke standing to his left, looking at Rosh ahead and then to Jaden. "But you're well on your way. Both of you have shown incredible progress in these past two weeks. I'm sure with a little more time and field practice, you both will be official Knights sooner than you think. Don't look down at your own improvements but don't rush it, you'll make it fine."

"S-Sure," She stuttered out, feeling a bit ashamed of her own condescension she had laid out to her fellow teammate. She knew that this past week she had taken on a more mentor role without realizing it, even if it was in a senior student kind of way. Still, she couldn't help but worry his over eagerness and brash temperament would get the better of him.

"Jaden," Luke addressed the Echani-blooded student, causing her silver eyes to lock onto his blue ones. "I'm sending you to Hoth. I once had a vision of my master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. I imagine there's a pretty strong aura there."

"Got it," She nodded with a smile, before furrowing her brows and pursing her lips. Looking over at Kyle and back at Luke, she raised a finger-less gloved pointer digit in query. "Should I pack warm or cool?"

"Very warm," The Grandmaster suggested, smiling a bit more humorously. "That place could easily freeze you to death in a blizzard if you aren't properly protected. We'll provide you with the proper protective apparel for the journey, so don't worry about rummaging through your wares to find something appropriate."

"So, from very hot deserts to a ice world," Jaden flatly stated, closing her eyes while inhaling through her nostrils, sighing with resignation. "Fine. It's fine."

"Rosh," He turned to the eagerly expectant student across from Jaden. "I'm sending you to the remains of the planet, Byss. It was once home to the Emperor as a secretive stronghold away from the Imperial capital of Coruscant. It's very remote so I doubt the Cult has been there, though you can never be too sure. Don't stay too long as the Remnant may still be operating in that region of space."

"No problem," Rosh raised his hands with a dismissive shrug. "I'll be gone before anybody knows it. With luck, I'll even bring back a souvenir."

"That's everyone," Luke stated, seeing the last of the students and masters splitting up, looking to the three before nodding his head to them. "May the Force be with you."

When Kyle turned with Luke to leave the pair, Rosh had grasped Jaden's shoulder. At first, her instinct was to pull away as her feelings of intimate contact were still a bit rough and discernment to any touch without permission was especially jarring. But when she saw the look in her friend's eyes, she knew it was important.

Leaning down to whisper in her ear, he said in a barely restrained voice, "I just finished it!"

"For real?!" She squeaked, barely holding herself back from squealing out with a mixture of emotions. Pride, fear, hope and wonderment all at once collided in an explosion of a jolt rushing through her chest up to her head. She was almost dizzy, to think that someone like Rosh could complete the sacred weapon of the order without any final touches of guidance.

"Yeah, I literally finished it over an hour ago," He grinned, obviously pleased with himself despite the haggard wear on his features. It was obvious he stayed up all night since she left him with Kyle to Coronet City.

Grasping onto his shoulders with both hands, she practically shook him as she growled out with an excited smile spread on her shining visage, "Show me!"

* * *

The trip to her room was quick, and hurried. They almost ran, but discouraged the thought in case they got looks from their colleagues. Once entered, Rosh stepped over the bedroll of his -obviously lying astride the work bench, but was currently out of sorts due to lack of use- before he stepped over a cloth covered protrusion. Picking it up delicately like a precious artifact, he held it in both hands and allowed Jaden to do the honors of revealing it. Watching her expectantly with his tongue licking his lips anxiously, he'd pay close attention to her eyes as they stared at what her hands slowly sought for.

Uncovering it, the weapon looked stunning. A plating had been used in the covering from the pommel all the way up to the edge, being proportionately thick enough to be considered a Stun Baton had it not been the lack of a shock-lined bladed edge. A silvery grey in hue, the emitter disc was flared reverse to what she had her triad of focused arrays on her own saber, the grip of it lacking any real covering beyond its protective shell like she had advised. A single black switch was installed as a nub, a few inches perpendicular to the hook that'd likely attach to a belt or some harness. With the back of the weapon having what looked like an encrusted shape of the cortosis remains of his focus crystal, it looked like a precious gem glimmered in a beautiful contrast to the rest of the perfectly proportioned cylinder of silvery-grey tint.

"Wow," She hoarsely whispered, scared that this was a dream and that her friend didn't simply make a false imitation. Running her hand over the material, she almost trembled at how smooth the cool metal felt. Wrapping her fingers around it, she felt the near weightless handle thrum with a powerful current, ebbing strength and resilience within its Force bound heart. As Rosh looked on with not a sign of rejection, she bit her lower lip and pushed her thumb along the switch.

A purring hum was released as the flared disc coiled forward, individual plates sliding into place before the emitter's epicenter shot an emerald outlined blade of light. Viridescent energy crackled in a fiery arc around the white flame of its center, making the weapon's breadth seem a bit wider than lightsabers she's seen of her own and the cult's mainstream creations. She was sure it had something to do with the unique nature of the Force channeled through a cortosis crystal, but seemed to lack any negative flaws in the weapon that was crafted.

Giving it a few experimental swings, she heard it thrum in the air, painting arches of bright emerald with each feint and cracked the air with each jab.

"So, does it work?" He asked, visibly unsure if his weapon was up to snuff. In an amusing way it was like a child who was asking an older sibling or a parent if their art project was a success, regardless if it appeared to be so on the surface.

"It's wonderful, Rosh!" She proclaimed, defusing the weapon with a thumbing flick over the switch. Once it was disengaged, she handed it back to him with a proud smile on her pale face, her silver eyes glittering with nothing short of amazement. "I can't believe you got this done so quickly. You may have a knack for crafting after all; or my lessons helped shorten the span considerably."

"Honestly, I don't think I would've gotten anything done if you weren't there the past four days," The spiky-haired man admitted, taking the weapon back, holding it with both hands tentatively still despite its working order. Awkwardly stepping side to side, he gnawed on his lip as he looked away, seeming embarassed about something. Hearing nothing said, he finally mustered up the courage and spoke aloud. "T-Thanks, Jaden. You've been nothing but a good friend to me, ever since we met. I know I'm a bit of a klutz, and socially awkward. Hell I don't even think I'm the best student as I like to make myself out to be. But you're a great inspiration, and influence to me, so I just wanted to let you know," He finished, boldly looking at her in the eyes with a serious expression, raising a hand upright to be clasped. "I look forward to working with you as an equal in the future, Jaden Korr."

Her eyes widened at this. The man continued to amaze and perplex her simultaneously. Meelik was a simple fellow with simple wants and needs, making it easy to talk to and befriend as a social recluse she was back home. She had wanted no company nor friendship apart from his. So when she journeyed here, alone, she had been sought out by the most bewildering of people, far more interesting than she cared to admit upon first contact. Then, Kyle sauntered into the picture and proved not all masters were straightforward or mysterious. Even Jade's pupils were not so par for the course to trainees in the Academy, making them welcome additions to her growing list of friends.

Friend. That's who this man was now. Even in such a short time she had come to call this similarly aged teenager a comrade. They were as far as apart in attitudes, personalities and mindsets but they both had co-aligned goals to become Jedi. Even if they had wildly different expectations and backgrounds they still had formed a bond that was undeniably present. Now she could tell why Meelik wanted her to leave that hollow, empty place full of people she felt alone in; this is what spurred her on to keep learning and forging new bonds in the process.

Clasping his hand, she gripped it hard, ensuring that she made this outstretch hand not be let go unlike the first time they met.

"I look forward to seeing you grow as both a person and a Jedi as well, Rosh Penin," She encouraged with a grin of her own, her eyes sparkling with complementary intrigue.

Today, as they depart, they knew their lives were going to become far more nuanced than they ever imagined.

* * *

 **Mission Briefing** : Luke Skywalker has instructed you to investigate Hoth, an ice world where he had a vision of the Force embodying his old master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Be on guard for anything, Remnant or Cult alike, when making this trip. If something feels off, do not let up until you find evidence of the cause here.

* * *

As she suited up for the trip, she packed some weapons as per necessary before making the journey. She did some quick skimming on a holo-pad on the geography of the world and found very little of it was mapped apart from some old data files inscribed by the premature New Republic; previously known then as the Rebel Alliance. Once she was given her ship -an X-Wing, this time- she departed and left all on her own without any real hope of contact with the rest of the Academy and its followers.

This was her first mission done in complete isolation from the rest of the order. She had to steel herself as she punched in the astro-chart coordinates given to her, blasting her into a field of streaking blue and white into the outer space horizon. This jump wouldn't be an especially long one, due to the nature of the Alliance's need for swift escapes from one base to another. A few hours at most, so she spent the rest of the time meditating in the Force to ensure she arrived with a calm spirit and a passive mind.

The throttling of the ship help quiet her thoughts as the whirring of the hyperdrive of her vessel's engine. The bleeps and beeps of various circuitry in conjunction with wires and triggers all across her cockpits dashboard. The narrow space she was housed within was smaller than the Raven's Crow or any spacecraft she's flown in the past. Still, it handled with far more agility just by experimental touch and she realized it'd work splendidly with her innately enhanced reflexes thanks to the Force.

Arriving with a jerking thuum, her personally assigned astromech droid -R9- bleeped and blurped announcement of their arrival. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary from a quiet scan, nor did anything really appear to be bizarre. Still, the fact she didn't sense anything meant something might be wrong and worth investigation.

Descending into the planet's atmosphere, she sucked air between her teeth as the entry jerked a bit. The response was done in due part to the storm that was present within her chosen landing posture. In supply of the coordinates, Luke also gave her a rough marker as to where he had experienced the Force vision, so she didn't have to comb through the entire world looking for it should the aura not be where she thought it'd preside. Landing there past the atmosphere wasn't the hard part, as there was plenty of room for her fighter craft to set upon, and with a small rocking gesture, she'd be ready to jump out into the world proper.

In doing so, she felt the clawing bite of the outside cling to her expose face.

"G-Great!" She grimaced between clenched teeth, doing her best not to shiver. She had a comfortable set of brown accented white padded winter survival gear, capable of being flexible enough to move as necessary along with thermal lining that'd protect her from harsh climates such as this. But what skin was exposed was immediately attacked by the wind of the frozen planet, and she immediately regretted stepping out of her cockpit.

Drawing upon the seemingly barren world's line to the Force she felt an acute sense of life past the howling wastes and through the layers of packed frozen moisture. Closing her eyes, she thought to find that impression Luke had sensed years ago when he was but a fledgling Jedi. But, as she felt the unseen living things of all shapes and sizes, she felt an emptiness where once a large swirl of residual energy once possessed the land.

"Huh, nothing," Jaden remarked, opening her eyes with a bat of snow clawing at her lashes. "I wonder if the Cult was here, or if Luke was mistaken? Perhaps the aurora of the Force petered out-?"

She was beginning to doubt herself -encouraged by the bitter cold she was enduring- until she saw something glow in the distance. The steady blink told her it was the result of technology, not of nature. It was not natural and she was certain this wouldn't have existed decades ago. Smacking her chapping lips, she pursued the light in a crunching jog, her beige boots smooshing through layers of packed snow while seeking the source of the luminous glow.

Finding it, she saw it was a beacon, with its own power supply as it radiated a single pulse from its tip while stabbed into the icy ground. Observing it, she'd find more lie in the distance, each one fainter in the horizon than the previous one. Swishing her tongue inside her numbing cheeks, she breathed slowly as she kept marching on, hoping this was leading somewhere important.

Coming across the bipedal saurian mammals, Tauntauns, she watched them with vague interest as they trotted in the opposite direction away from her. The lights seemed to do little for their attention as they gallopped away, seeming with increased haste as she made it past them. As the roaring wind dimmed of snow -only now coming in faint snowflakes beyond the vaporous clouds of the ground's surface collection- she saw the outlines of partially frozen rock formations line up near her as she jogged ahead.

Turning a corner where two walls of frozen sediment nearly joined, the beacons turned into the gap between them, and right into the path of an arctic type of Imperial grunt; a Snowtrooper.

"Imperials!" She gasped, stopping her noisy approach with a crouch. It was right when she was beginning to suspect she was wasting her time that the Remnant had to appear. Bemoaning her luck of always running into these menaces, she wondered if the Force was conspiring against her.

Reservations aside, she knew she had to approach with more caution than before. Taking out her Disruptor, she aimed down the sight and enhanced the optic's crossair till it rested over his head. Without revving up the power core within the weapon, she'd click and a beam of red lanced straight from the barrel through his enviro-helmet with ease. Plumping to the ground with a faint thud, she'd continue her trek to find more similarly placed troopers along the rock bordered path of beacon lights.

Taking them out, she'd find brief respite in a camp site made from a Fusion furnace, allowing her to apply its warmth to her numbing facial features. Once done, she continued onward, hefting the weapon in her hands as she kept a close eye for more stormtroopers. There, in a line, was four more all guarding the mouth of a cave. Seeing them not too far apart gave her an idea, opting to switch her Disruptor for her Bowcaster.

Lining up, she took a knee and then unleashed a horde of spinning chakrams of lime colored plasma. Each one that struck true sent them flying back from the force, ricocheting off some of the grounded powder for flooring and iced boulders. Taking the rest out in two more pulls of the trigger, she put the weapon away to conserve ammunition. Passing by an unused mounted gun, she entered the cave and felt the ease of no wind chill within the subterranean entrance.

"I wonder how far this goes?" She asked herself out loud, her breath perspiring vapor as she stepped along the sparsely iced ground within the massive cave. Enormous icicles hung from the ceiling, some being nearly as long as her X-Wing, as she angled delicately to avoid being lacerated by their razor edges. Maneuvering through the fog that had accumulated in this space, she suspected it was a tunnel and less of a standard cave, hence its larger than expected ceiling top.

Unfortunately for her, a Wampa was not too happy to see her. A large saurian mammal that resembled something to a burly monster than the beasts of burden the tauntauns were, the furred abomination had faint burgundy crust in its normally white fur along the claws and mouth. It didn't take a detective to realize it was a voracious carnivore and it savagely snarled out as she approached it.

Not even bothering with the weapons, she withdrew a thermal detonator from her concealed bandoleer and gave it a toss, watching it explode on contact. Hearing it wail out in guttural agony, it'd buckle and fall on its haunches before lying over in a scorched pile of burnt flesh and fur. Sighing, she'd walk away from the relatively innocent predator that blocked her path, she continued on and attempted to vacate before she had to fight anymore of the local wildlife.

Escaping the tunnel system, she found an opening that led back to the windy outside. From there, more encampments were found, scattered across the beacon lit path. The Snowtroopers were becoming more frequent, urging her to err on the side of caution to avoid confrontation less she be faced a singlehanded war against a batallion or more of the Remnant's finest. Thankfully the naturally frigid weather aided her in this endeavor, and she continued on without having to confront most of the bulk of their armed forces.

Then, he found a peculiar sight. Melted and contorted fragments of once old but used defensive positions. Gun placements, trenches all encrusted by the elements and time, even a mangled turret that surely didn't belong to Imperials. She believed she was getting closer to the old Rebel base!

Passing the ruins of metal and scrap, likened to that of a graveyard of a past war long gone, she saw the encroachments of a nearly frozen over bunker that was partially opened and guarded by a single trooper. She realized by the faint light coming from inside that people were inside and it was likely the Alliance's old base was infested with their numbers. Approaching as quietly as she could, she'd whip out her lightsaber and cut him across the chest, silencing any attempts of a cry for help before diving inside.

" **Hey!** "

" **What the-?!** "

" **Blast-!** "

A trio of voices blared through their helmets' audio receivers, only to be silenced by a wide swing of her peerless snow colored lightsaber. The brown handled, muzzle flared weapon defused with a turn of the switch, as she dove deeper and deeper into this back entrance into the complex. Sliding down through a more man-made ventilation shaft, she soon found herself dropped into a frigid yet wind deprived base of the past.

"Okay," She breached the silence, looking around with her Jedi weapon in hand. "Now, where to?"

Standing on a pile of crates, no doubt materials hauled in from the Imperials stationed here, she observed that there was a patrol of troopers not more than a few meters below from her spot. Crouching down, she whipped out another thermal detonator, priming it for proximate impact. Before tossing it, she heard relevantly pressing information.

" **Hey, did you guys hear?** "

" **Hear what?** "

" **They loss contact with the perimeter patrols.** "

" **Storm is pretty bad out there. Then again, it could be wampas.** "

" **Yeah, definitely. I saw one of our troopers got mangled by one. Those monsters can take a lot of blaster fire if you're not careful.** "

" **Especially if you make'em angry-** "

On that note, they'd faintly see a ball of beige-grey coloration fall on the ground, bouncing once just before the thermal blast caught them all in its residual blast. The thuum shook the confines of the interior, shaking the ceiling, but thankfully nothing more than a loud noise gonged the base's broad chamber. It pained her that she resorted to an explosive to keep things quiet, but she was trying to move along quickly.

Enhancing her speed, she leaped into a running jump, landing in mid-stride as she ran from one end of the massive room to the other. Passing through an automatic doorway as she caught her breath, she'd skid to a halt as several Snowtroopers appeared around the corner and rush towards her. E-11's bared, they cried out over each other as they'd open fire, forcing her to summon her blade of energy to deflect their damaging bolts.

" **Intruder! We have an intruder!** " One of them bellowed.

" **How did she get in here?!** " Another barked.

" **Call for backup! This is a Jed-AGH!** " The last tried to warn, just as a reflected bolt struck him in the faceplate, blinding him and sending him writhing on the ground in agony.

The others didn't get far as Jaden made a calculated throw with her blade, carving iced bits of the wall in a horizontal spin of her weapon. Carving through them in dismembering chunks, their screams rang within the smaller confines loudly, much to her chagrin. Returning back to her hand with a click, she kept her weapon ignited as she pressed further on.

Coming across a huddled group conversing in front of a Fusion furnace, she dispatched them with another thermal detonator, their cries also adding to the cacophony of noises she had to endure listening to. Counting her armaments, her Disruptor and Bowcaster were running short on ammo while her pistol had yet to be used. She had three detonators left, so direct fire was definitely the best option when dealing with this many of the Remnant solo.

Rushing down another snow laden hallway, she turned a corner and found a line of more Snowtroopers advancing her direction; no doubt hearing the noise that she's been causing. One went for a mounted gun, swiveling it slowly around on an iced joint while the others ducked behind crate lied cover to open fire. She chose to duck in cover in a deft sliding motion, just barely avoiding the heavy tripod weapon's golden shots, a hail of blaster fire filling the iced corridor.

Every second spent here she knew they could call upon the dauntless numbers still lying in the surface. Yanking another detonator from her stash, she timed in between the overheating of the mounted gun to ricochet her overhanded toss of the grenade towards them. A few short cries and scurrying feet were heard just before a thunderous blast overtook them, shaking ice loose of the ceiling and walls, but not doing more than superficial damage to the environment. Standing upright, she peered over to see charred bits and pieces of the Snowtroopers and slagged melted gun where the other trooper once stood.

Shaking her head with disgust, she marched ahead of the bodies, continuing to move forward to find out what their objective was here other than inhabiting a vacated base like this.

Exiting the hallway through an automatic door, she'd find a room full of Snowtroopers, all expectantly awaiting her arrival. Opening fire seconds too late, she began to swing her blade with effortless strokes, cutting one after the other and mindful to deflect any shot too close for comfort. This was an exercise of conservation and patience, as each room seemed to hold the same numbers and the same tact. It was all but a delaying effort with very little of their presence acting as a proper defense, much like their temporary stay back at Bakura.

But why? She wondered this as she kept pressing the assault on their numbers, their blaster bolts singing around and over her form as she kept accelerating her body with the living Force compelling her body to act on instinct. It wasn't simply random mob violence that she dealt with back on Tatooine. These were trained soldiers, each one equipped to land incapacitating or killing shots if one hit the right way. Yet, they posed no threat to her as her self confidence had become more apparent in the way she used what skills she's obtained to refine herself in a fluid extension of the all encompassing life energy tying this whole world and its inhabitants together.

Her body had radiated with a warmth that defied the elements, almost causing her to sweat as she continued to fearless incursion with an intrigue of what lied at the belly of this facility. Dead machines lied everywhere, mangled and overcast, long since outliving their use. For once she wanted not to know how these outcast machinery worked but the answers this Cult sought within this once abandoned world. What was the secret worth staying after the presence of a vision had been sapped dry?

Her answers came as she felled the last pair of Snowtroopers obstructing her path. Coming into what was once the command center of the Hoth Base, with more upright machines that were miraculously functional alongside overturn and mangled consoles of archaic design. Inside she heard a slightly hidden voice, muffled by fabric and wrapped by the unmistakable colder than ice presence of the Dark Side. Lightsaber still thrumming in hand, she quietly crept towards the acolyte, letting him speak out loud for her benefit.

"Command Center to Alora," He spoke into the communicator held in his hand.

"Alora here," A purring voice sensually spoke back out of habit rather than seductive purpose.

"We've just finished downloading the data. The Rebels seemed to have erased everything as a precaution to keep the Empire from following them so easily. Fortunately the flight logs were still being scanned for their individual vessels' last known trajectories," The Cultist explained.

"And?" She asked expectantly, on the verge of sounding bored.

"And we found Rogue Leader's last flight coordinates. A little planet in the Outer Rim in the Sluis Sector called Dagobah," He finished explaining, his face sounding as if he was grinning with pride at his find.

"Dagobah," Alora mulled aloud, sneering afterwards with audible contempt. "That world wasn't even logged in the personal records I recovered in his chambers. That sneaky little Jedi..."

"I'll rendezvous with the others shortly. I've been hearing some commotion so it's likely the base has been compromised-"

Just short of getting that line out was when Jaden unleashed the Force upon him. Pulling upon the threads of energy lining this very command center, she siphoned it into the space of her weapon and weaponless palms. Then, with a shoving thrust, she launched an explosive burst of telekinetic fury on the stack of archaic computers the acolyte was facing. The effort crushed him into the machinery behind him in a cacophony of cracking and crunching sparks, overshadowing his painful cry as he was smothered by glass and metal in a single burst of expertly timed pressure.

"Sorry, but I don't have time to lock blades with you," She mockingly apologized to the vaguely outlined arm sticking from the pile of broken plasteel and glass. Flipping her plait from over her right shoulder to her back, she exhaled noisily a cloud of vapor as her silver eyes turned to look at the exit to the Command Center. Rushing out, she twirled her lit saber in hand to be inverted in her grip, swiftly galloping with long strides.

She'd find this Alora, and end this scheme of the Cult's here!

* * *

She was still seething at the surface that she had failed to find this place. Her master had warned her that Luke may have not logged all of the astro-logs with relevant information, as places they turned up to were nothing more than destinations along his path as a war hero on top of being the progenitor of the new order. Recovering this was a huge stroke of luck, as they were another step closer in achieving their plans. Disturbingly enough was the sudden cut to communication to her personally assigned acolyte, Tyrus.

Still, she had a job to do and she thought it best to report back to her mistress. Sidling along a partially frozen cropping of erect rock in the middle of a vast, open ceiling chamber, she pulled out her comm and contacted her distant teacher. From there she was perhaps sitting comfortably far away from this frigid wasteland of a planet, she suspected.

"That was what you found?" The Dark Master inquired with a syrupy touch to her voice.

"Yes Master, Dagobah," Alora sighed with satisfaction of her mission bearing fruit. "Skywalker didn't mention it in the astro-logs he stored in his journals. It's likely he did so to keep it a secret in a case like this. Seems like he's trying to avoid spreading this knowledge in order to protect something; or someone."

"Very well done, my apprentice," Her master drawled out, her thespian mannerism bordering on exasperation but sounded like music to the Twi'lek's conical ears. "Return to me at once. I'll give you another task immediately."

"Of course," She purred out, pulling the comm down just in time to see _her_ coming. The Lethan Twi'lek -the sub-species category for her red pigmentation- saw it was a platinum haired and silver eyed woman of pale complexion, even more than average from most Humans she's seen. Judging by her peerless white blade in hand, she must have been the intruder and a curling grin breached her features at the sight. "Ah, a student from the Academy has been sent to do Skywalker's bidding. No doubt in desperation after finding out what we learned from his journals. Are you here to challenge me, hm?"

"Hardly," The Echani-blooded woman sneered, twirling the blade in hand from reverse grip to standard, hand dropping to her hip close to her DL-44. Her crouched stance informed the Cultist that she was not to be trifled with and had seen a fair share of battles. A fire burned in her silvery eyes, and echoed through the tone of her voice. "You and your cult have wrought enough suffering in the galaxy. Your scheme ends here, Alora."

"Oh my!" She feigned shock, raising a hand up to her mouth, her teal-bluish sleeve crinkling with her arching gesture as she teased her. "Are we already on a first name basis? How _forward_ of you."

In an ironic emphasis of the exaggerated word, she bent forward from her perch and launched towards her. Snow kicked up from the air pocket she disrupted, maneuvering with an adept speed and aerodynamic precision of a missile, the lower halves of her head-tails -lekku- clang like bizarre wind chimes as she impacted her foe's guard with a single drawn slash of a timely ignition of her blade.

This saber was unique in its craft, unlike the rest of the mass produced weapons Jaden had seen firsthand. Silver threads lined the handle up into a cup-shaped emitter, with its blade being a midge narrower than the rest of her associates' with a ball shaped pommel. It was etched into Jaden's mind even in the significant Force leap she used to tackle and crash her weapon into her.

Her face was dangerously close to her, invoking a recoiling movement of her head back away as her face nearly entered her proximity. Emerald eyes hungrily stared at hers as a dagger line of teeth flashed maliciously in taunt at her. Pulling back, she'd seem to almost float away in a backward twirl, gesturing her free hand while still clutching her saber.

This invoked a lasso-like tug to ensnare her invisibly from her left foot, standing back from her and raising up so she'd flip on an uneven footing on the ice floor. With her head aiming to be bludgeoned, she sought purchase with an enhanced grip of a free hand. Her gloved fingers cracking into the surface with an audible crunch, just in time to hear a twirling toss of her Force aimed saber.

Using her hand as balance, she bent her weight at the elbow before Pushing herself up in a catapulting thrust, avoiding the blade by a meter's breadth. Even as it curled to pursue, her still active weapon timed an arc to clash at it, sending another Push through the stroke to send it clattering inactive at an ice encrusted wall. Buying her enough time to land in a knee bent crouch, she'd turn to her opponent, whom called upon her weapon remotely from her partially frozen perch she had started out upon.

Pulling out her DL-44, she peppered out rapidly shrieking blasts at her, yellow bolts singing in veracity enough for Alora to twirl off her high perch. From her knee bent squat, she darted across the ground, blurring swiftly over to her vicinity just as she catches her weapon in hand. Parrying a telegraphed thrust with a horizontal shove upwards, she widened her eyes in alarm as the DL-44's barrel was aimed up at her head, firing in blaring repetition. Even as she parried slash after slash, the Form I Shii-Cho easily wielded in one hand by Jaden against the Form II Makashi that Alora had dipped to, it was inefficient against the pragmatic addition of her blaster taking shots with enhanced precision and focus through the Force.

One of which managing to strike past the cheek and her lekku to the right, another singing her shoulder, and another slicing the back of her wrist.

"You, _Schutta_!" She cursed out loud in a word Jaden had never heard used against her. In a moment of passionate outrage, the calm and taunting Alora drew upon her rage to claw a free hand amidst a deflecting stroke of her lightsaber against Jaden's. Ripping the blaster straight from her grip, the Lethan Twi'lek swung an open-fingered palm away, dictating the direction of the pistol to shatter into pieces against an ice encrusted stalactite of the ceiling.

Embracing the pain that was inflicted upon her body, she pushed her palm back just as Jaden took a step back in readiness. Yanking her own palm up in retaliation, the pair consequently created a countering influx of Force energy, billowing outwards with a howling pressure wave akin to Hoth's own blizzard winds. Snow whipped around them, ice peeled off the surface as a maelstrom had maintained around the pair within a dozen meter radius. The whole of the chamber shook ever-so-slightly as their combat in Force ability had locked into place.

Then, it detonated. At the core of the singularity they created was opposing energies of contrasting alignment. Inevitably the Force would balance itself out and collapse the wound that was being made within that space. This resulted in the visible sight of seeing a flash of pulsing blue light briefly manifesting over their heads before their bodies whipped backwards as if lariat by the mythical bomb's blast.

Scraping along the damaged flooring's surface, Jaden was thankful that her survival gear cushioned her skin while being bruised by the kinetic kickback. Grimacing she pushed herself back up, only to see Alora stand warily and look upon the Echani-blooded teenager with caution. Even as she began to sprint back her way, she seemed to change her mind and vaulted up the icy erect piles of sediment adjoined to the floor. Following after her, she grasped the edges of one stone covered pointed rock and took a swipe, only to see her dexterously fly up and grip onto a platform beyond the student's reach.

Hanging there, Alora sneered. Their battle had been short but also a telling reminder she still had much to learn in the Dark Side. Just as this student of the Academy showed much promise, she too knew that she needed to grow further before committing to a battle with temerity necessary.

"We'll meet again, Jedi," She intoned dangerously, lifting herself up with a flip onto some allotted piping of the rounded opening aimed upward. Jumping to another one, Jaden back flipped back to her feet, looking up with an armed glare of her own.

"I can't wait," Jaden hissed aloud, watching the acolyte leap away, and escape with whatever knowledge she took with her.

* * *

 **A/N** : And here's the next Chapter! Rosh has finished his lightsaber, the friendship has been fastly formed between Jaden and the spiky haired dork. I liked writing this scene if only to emphasize they really have become friends despite the short time spent with each other. And just like that she's come a long ways since her timid start of this adventure. Ten chapters in (Plus the prologue) and she's already taking on acolytes like they're her morning breakfast. *Sniffs* She grows up so fast...lol

As much as I am remiss of skimming a lot of the gameplay segments of Jaden tearing through an army of Remnant Snowtroopers, an ATST and a few obstacle courses placed in her way, I wanted to keep the pacing as brisk as possible. I don't want to spend multiple chapters on one mission if I can help it. Like, apart from navigating the wastes, taking down a few wampas, there wasn't really much of interest to describe in terms of her conflict on this mission. Keeping her subtle helps me not only to describe her as a cautious person as per characterization but also to help shave off time of her mowing down bad guys.

Regardless, I had fun with her brief but exciting duel with Alora. I had imagined the fight being a little bit longer, but I thought after the Force Push-Off (ha!) that'd be the moment Alora would bail, seeing as she can't overpower Jaden like she initially thought. Plus, she's not an especially tough boss fight when you meet her for the first time, so skimming down a 30 second game fight to a handful of paragraphs doesn't sound unreasonable to me.

Next time, Jaden returns to deliver the disturbing information to Luke and Kyle. As our white haired, silver eyed heroine advances, her missions grow more treacherous over time. And what of Rosh? Where has he gone? Find out more on the next chapter of Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Temptations!


	12. Chapter 12 - A Well Earned Promotion

It was a grave feeling that Jaden felt bore into the pit of her stomach. Even though she had caught up to the perpetrators, there was nothing wholly to stop them from committing they hadn't already finished. After she had carefully circumnavigated the block of troops lent to them by their Remnant allies, used guile and speed to catch the leader of the operation, she was unable to best her in combat. Some outside observer could call it a tie or at least a draw in a stand-off kind of way.

In her eyes, she saw it as failure, and this was the first time she truly tasted that since arriving in the Academy.

Making mistakes was a common thing in her life, that wasn't the issue. She had seen her fair share of things that went wrong as her talents in machinery didn't make her flawless or without errors. It took her a long time to develop this knack in a near perfect manner since childhood and the Force reflects that mentality up to now.

But, in the moment she locked blades with this Alora, the Lethan Twi'lek was perhaps stronger than herself in both combat and in the Force. It was through her own improvisation and clever thinking that she stood even a chance, imitating the actions of a more experienced Jedi, learner or not. The fact her powers could even equal to counter hers was a miracle in her mind, and the fact it pushed her to flee made her angry.

Angry at herself, at the smug cultist's taunting words and angry that she was left to handle the entire situation alone. It took the whole several hour hyperspace flight back to calm herself. Escaping the complex the same way her enemy did, she was able to call R9 to pilot her X-Wing back to her position and make a clean getaway before more Remnant forces managed to block her in. But even in that time, it only now dawned on her that she was left little to no chance to make a complete victory without aid.

This was meant as an investigation, and she turned it into something far more complicated than she was instructed to handle. The fact she had taken up the pursuit of whatever lied beneath the Imperials' outpost there meant she had changed. Her own personality was becoming more assertive, bolder even. Unsure exactly how she felt but, even when the Sith Cultist locked blades with her in a show of fierce intimidation, a part of her wanted to rebuttal with her own vigorous counter.

"I guess this is my true self coming out of its shell," She fathomed as she coasted her spacecraft into the Academy's hangar. She was lucky that Kyle had hailed on as being present at the Academy, with Luke still there to help present oversight for those Jedi that weren't present during their previous meeting. If this war with the Disciples of Ragnos was coming, they had to know what their next target was going to be, and hopefully prevent it before it was too late.

Repulsor fields were activated as rain began to trickle down, the once bright had set and was replaced by a moon covered darkness of storm clouds, filling the skyline. The shadow didn't just extend to the weather, as her barely calmed spirit felt the weight of other Jedi that were in the Academy. She didn't even know all of them on a first name basis, yet she could feel this lingering fear growing in the back of their conscious minds, ebbing out like the frosty breath she breathed earlier today.

Entering the meeting hall, the chamber felt especially large with the vacancy of so many students, knights and teachers. The only people occupying it were Kyle and Luke, their backs turned to her and their voices hushed even from this distance. It must have not been good, but she tried not to act like she was eavesdropping but making her steps more than audible in her approach.

Noticing her arrival, Kyle smiled, seeming pleased with her return as Luke did. If her presence could give them a bit of joy -which surprised her- it must have meant it wasn't all bad.

"Hey, Jaden," Kyle greeted her with an arm-crossed nod. "We heard you ran into some trouble at Hoth. Wanna fill us in on the details?"

"Other than it swarming with Remnant activity, I came across a couple of the cultists," She began to divulge, stopping short of the pair after ascending the staircase to the top of the platform. "I caught the first off guard so it wasn't a problem. The second, however, was a lot stronger than the other acolytes I've faced in my missions."

"Who was she?" Luke asked, visibly intrigued at a prospective Force User among the ranks of their enemies.

"A Red-Skinned Twi'lek named Alora," Jaden described, visibly scrunching her face up to show her displeasure. "She let her guard down when she realized I was a student. After I made her mad enough, a few blows were exchanged and she quit while she was ahead. I couldn't catch her, let alone beat her," Lowering her head, guilt swam to the surface of her thoughts and her stomach clenched once again. Her shoulders hunched and her hands hung limply at her sides as she muttered aloud defeated. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, don't sweat it," Kyle brushed off with a wave of his crossed hands, letting one rest comfortingly on a shoulder of hers. Looking into her tilting gaze, he grinned encouragingly at her with a frank nod. "Trust me when I say this, we didn't plan on you tackling the Remnant all by yourself. That's my job. Or Luke's, depending on the day of the week."

"I can feel the impression she's left on you," Luke noted, drawing her gaze more levelly than Kyle's. Looking at her up and down, he smiled with assurance himself. "You did well fighting someone of such command in the Force. It goes to show how far you've come."

"Thanks," She replied, her normally pale features blushing red as her eyes barely kept from averting from the two masters. Realizing there was more to the story, she explained what she overheard from the acolytes and their destination likely being Dagobah.

Grimly, Luke lowered his voice and intoned seriously, "So, they've found out about that place," Raising his head to look between the two, he gestured for explanation. "Master Yoda, my Jedi teacher after Obi-Wan, had stayed there after the Jedi Purge took place. He was hidden there by the natural dark aura of the Force presiding there, and was a place natural affinity to his nature as a Force User. If they discover that place..."

He trailed off, his visage's coloration disappearing as his countenance became more stony. Looking away, he kept his hands folded behind his black suited back, walking up to look out at the repulsor field deflecting the onslaught of rain in the night filled forest. He was silent and didn't say another word as he contemplated the gravity of this advancement in the hidden plans of their enemy.

"What about Hoth? Did you feel anything?" Kyle asked straightforward to Jaden.

"Nothing," She answered simply with a shrug. "Whatever presence left there, it didn't exist when I arrived. They must have stolen the Force energy well in advance with how many troops stationed in such a large area."

"It's the same everywhere," Luke chimed out, not bothering to look back at them as his eyes continued to look at the pouring rain outside in the thick, light-less night. "Bespin, Endor, Coruscant and the other places I've sent members of the Academy. They must have been planning this for awhile to be able to move so quickly from one location to the next to siphon so much energy with such haste. It's disconcerting, to say the least, just how far behind we are compared to them."

The silence hung in the air, amplifying the dread welling within Jaden. The mass amount of Force power gained from so much worlds must be astronomical. A single raw blast was enough to nearly incapacitate her, if not worse. And she was certain that was only a fraction of its might. What kind of terror were they going to unleash with that much stored into that staff of theirs?

"Kyle," Luke turned, suddenly looking to her bearded teacher for confirmation on something else. "What about Byss?"

"Rosh hasn't returned," He admitted lowly, his guttural voice coming out less even and more on edge as he made a slight gesture with his shoulders up his head for emphasis. "He's long overdue."

The dread suddenly had a pressure point within her. Rosh, her Rosh, hadn't reported back? No, it wasn't simply being late but went missing. The peerless pale beauty of her Echani complexion became almost chalk in texture and hue as her eyes dilated, her breath coming out hitched. Fingers trembled at her side and knees buckled.

Why him? Why did he of all people had to up and vanish?!

"I sense he's still alive," Luke's voice cut through her swelling panic like a pin to a balloon. Her head whipped around, her plait almost bludgeoning her cheek as her worried expression was conveyed straight to the Grandmaster. He raised a hand, placating her enough to calm herself and ease up. She did so, breathing deeply in and out as the Force funneled into her, soothing her emotional turmoil and clearing her mind as she opened herself up to its living presence.

"I'm going to head out to Byss to look for him," Kyle informed his colleague, gesturing a gloved hand for explanation. "I've got some people with Imperial connections that can get me into the outlying outposts nearby. See what I can dig up from there."

"What about me?" She asked, looking between the two Jedi masters with visible concern. It was all she could do to let the Force rein her emotions in and keep a cool head for this situation. Still, her longing to see the brash loudmouth enthusiastically return without a fuss was overwhelming. Her first friend outside of her home was missing and she wasn't doing anything to help him; something she was all too endeared to share with the two men in front of her. "Rosh is my friend! I can't abandon him now when he needs me most!"

"You can help him by staying here, and completing your training," The bearded Jedi spoke with authority and calm assurance in a smoother voice than what he started out this conversation with. It was strange how much he was looking to fit in that role and title he so detested ordinarily. Perhaps this is the reason he didn't like assuming it, because of this hard decisions of telling someone like her to not do what she wanted when it was knowingly foolish to enable her.

"Kyle's right," Luke swiftly added, raising a hand in gesture to address her directly as her conflicted expression turned to one of bewilderment at him. "There are teachings you can still learn from, history to be informed of and techniques you need to polish on. After all, we don't want to neglect the training of one of our most promising students."

It suddenly dawned on her why Luke was in person when she could've easily transmissioned it to him, or informed the Grandmaster through her teacher. Looking between the scruffy haired rogue and then to the once moisture farmer turned Jedi master, she couldn't help but blink owlishly. So, with audible impotence to muster a stronger voice, she squeaked out a small, "Sir?" to Luke.

"Jaden, in light of your heroic actions on Hoth, I'm officially promoting you to the rank of apprentice," Luke spoke with an official air of pride and a hint of joy at handing this honor to her.

Stunning her, Jaden could hardly understand why she was being rewarded. She failed, hadn't she? But no, that wasn't it at all. The more she thought about it, she had succeeded in something. Had she given up and reported the Remnant, they would've been long gone by the time the New Republic or a fellow Jedi could arrive at the scene. Not only had she undermined their secrecy of operating there but also found out what their purpose was in being there; that and putting a name and face to a dangerous adversary.

"Thank you," She spoke reverently, bowing her head to Luke and Kyle. "Master Skywalker. Master-uh-Kyle."

"I'll forgive ya this time," Kyle pointed teasingly with a grin. " _Apprentice_ Korr."

She hoped from this point on, she'd make sure the title would be earned in the coming days. Of that, she was determined to prove.

* * *

After getting much needed rest, Jaden went to tinkering on her acquired loot. She had a vision in mind for what she wanted to use the tools and gear she salvaged from her myriad of encounters to the missions she's been on, but nothing solid. Hours would be spent on one aspect only for her to second guess and abandon the initial route. It didn't help even when she was giving pointers to Rosh, when he was around. His absence only made her mechanical meddling feel even more restless.

Still, she made the most of her time at the Academy in the two days she had to recuperate. Training with some more droids, remotes and refining her Force powers on the training course helped improve her timing and enhancing her overall stamina. Due to how busy the rest of the Academy was, she'd rarely get to see anybody at the time she spent, making her routine flow in a seamless and machine-like order.

By the time she got her mission, she was all too relieved to be put at use. Given a Z-95 Headhunter, the blue striped white vessel lacked the attack foils of an X-Wing but had the resembling shape with reduced firepower in exchanging for shielding. It didn't matter given that where she was going, she'd have to approach on ground level. Given the flight distance from her position at Yavin IV, she chose to familiarize herself once again with the objective.

* * *

 **Mission Briefing** : We've gotten a report that a spaceport worker on Zonju V has information on the Cult. He wishes to meet us in person at his choice meeting, in an abandoned native outpost of the planet 3 kilometers away from the nearest city, Zoronhead. Meet with him to find out what he knows.

* * *

She didn't pack too much heat this time around. Just an E-11, a DL-44, some detonators and her Bowcaster. It took nearly an entire day of flight time to reach it from her side of the galaxy of the Outer Rim into Wild Space territory. To make up for it, she caught up on some much needed Jedi text reading and to further study on some lightsaber form sequences to improve her overall technique. Falling asleep for the last few hours of the flight, she finally awoke as a bleeping announcement came as she exited hyperspace.

The world wasn't a very populated one. At one point it belonged to a warlord that sought to carve a bloody path of consequence, only to be shut down eons ago. Now all that remained was ruins scattering about, with a myriad of outposts that were either repurposed or left to rot. The only habitable city was a known hub of piracy and criminal activity, so she did her best to conceal her craft a click away from it so no one would think about stealing her ship. The arid world wasn't too hot much to her relief, allowing her to strike up a conversation to the spot she wanted to get to by the local establishments.

After a hard amount of bargaining, she got a deal on a sports-decked speeder bike to make the rest of the distance discreetly to the rendezvous designated. Hopping out, she'd feel an enjoyable sense of exhilaration unlike she had experienced. Flying ships was one thing, and even piloting an airspeeder in Coruscant's lower levels was enjoyable to an extent, but there was something like an adrenaline rush in being in an unprotected speeder bike like this one. Her plait whipped behind her as she well into the vehicle, whirring through the mass canyon path taking her past spines of long since deceased beasts and ruined spires littering the landscape.

Then, her spine jolted from the base up to her skull with a flash. Her sight once full of sweeping dry scenery she passed by at incredible velocity briefly showed a hail of red, pummeling the ground in front of her in an orange-colored detonation of flames. Acting on pure impulse based on this spontaneous new information, she jerked her bike hard to the right, nearly clipping off a rib-shaped protrusion from the earth with a slice of scraping metal of her bike.

Seconds later, the storm of blaster fire struck where she was heading, and she could tell exactly where it came from. Arching her neck around she'd see four identically clothed mercenaries of burgundy brown dress rushing down the slope of the canyon wall, aiming to cut her off at the path ahead. Gritting her teeth, she pumped the throttle and hugged the bike low as her vehicle shrieked loudly in a fierce movement forward. Even as they took pot shots at her during their ambitious acceleration down to the stable ground, none connected. They peppered and popped around the dusty floor of the canyon path but none came close to touching the speedy blur of her red dyed speeder.

She knew her lead wasn't going to be permanent, already getting the distinct impression from their bikes' revving starting to enter her hearing range. Thankfully it took as much effort to focus on following her dangerously swift person as it did for her. Neither party tried to attack, but the chase went on and their transportation devices were nearly caught up with her own.

Seeing up ahead a sheer wall was in place, her bike would be rendered useless past this point. Closing her eyes, she focused the Force through her body at an enhanced proportion. She'd have to rely on her Sense to predict the proper time to maneuver, and then, act in conjunction with her other abilities. Even though her eyes were blocking out the rapidly approaching face, the hired guns only now seemed to decelerate as they watched with almost disbelief as she seemed to keep moving on without any sign of stopping.

In one moment, she pulled the handles of her bike up with a howling rev of her speeder's engine and fired off the booster. Capitalizing on the speed and momentum, she harnessed the Force to pulverize the earth and guide her machine up towards an archway gap -more than likely a watchtower in the middle of the wall- and spiral it around with a twist of her arms with her whole body's weight behind it. Corkscrewing with audible bouncing on the tower's flooring, she barreled through the other side in a shower of sparks, leaving the other trio of merc bikers in indignant disbelief.

"I-I c-can't b-believe t-that w-w-worked!" She stuttered out, her speeder bouncing noisily for the next few seconds as its propulsion recaliberated post-blunt-trauma. Narrowly evading the fate of her teeth ramming against one another -let alone her tongue-, she blinked almost owlishly as her heart pounded behind her black sleeveless jacket top. Looking over her shoulder, she revved the engine and sped away, her plait dangling behind her rivulets of platinum tresses as her silver eyes stared ahead at the outpost she knew that was the place for a designated meeting.

It was a ruined old fort, of sorts, having long since lost the mighty luster of its design it once had. Now it held only a skeletal outline, decrepit from the elements and use of many inhabitants coming or battling it out. Giving off the impression that anyone with a shady background would take refuge here, it'd make sense for the man to choose a spot like this, especially when very little space presided around the canyons here to navigate normally. She took a decelerated slide up to the pair of flat walkways to the rusty red entrance; which was now opening from the inside.

Having must have heard her, an older man -more than likely approaching senior years- exited through the front door in plain grey and black clothing. He looked gravely concerned, warily looking at the scratched and banged up state of her transport before turning to see her untouched person walk up the sloping walkway to him. Gulping aloud, he let out a graveled, trembling query, "A-Ah're you d'eh Jed'aye?"

"Yes," She gasped out, still trying to calm herself from her tension-filled escapade with the mercs from before. "Please tell me everything you know about the Disciples of Ragnos. Please, make it quick," She added, looking over her shoulder as a familiar tingling of danger was alerting her Force Senses. "I ran into some trouble earlier and it's only a matter of time till they catch up."

"We sh'uld go in'side, it sh'uld be sa'feer," He nearly croaked out, turning to walk with Jaden on her left.

That lightning instant of danger made her twist around, avoiding imminent demise as a scarlet beam nearly pierced her body. Instead, it left a scorching hole of sizzling sound a foot way from where she now stood; and the contact's own chest.

"C-Count!" He began to rasp out, his eyes going white as Jaden tried to reach out and grab a hold of him before he went limp, falling to the ground cold. "M-Must...ulk..."

Gone.

Her contact was assassinated right before her eyes. Whipping her head around, she saw a number of mercs of similar gear having scaled the fortress from behind. One of them was sporting a Disruptor and had been responsible for the attack. Pulling the trigger, he rapidly attempted to correct his miss, only to see her speed away inside.

"Sith Spit!" She swore, igniting her lightsaber and cutting the electronic mechanism that would allow automatic entry from either side. "I've got to get out of here. This whole meeting was a trap for me!"

Even as this epiphany dawned on her, she realized the mercs were likely part of the same contingent based on the planet. If the others came swooping in on speeder bikes, chances are they'd also have some equipped on the other side of the outpost.

Licking her lips, she quieted herself with the Force and maneuvered out of the empty hold out a similarly arranged back. There was a massive range, and the canyon crafted road seemed to veer off ahead and to a right within her vista. Not far away at the bottom of the two stair-less ramps were a slew of bikes, eight in total. She heard muttered voices of mercs just in between the ramps, leaning against a wall just beneath the dividing balcony. In an act of to capitalize on their current separation she whipped out a thermal detonator and underhandedly tossed it while Speeding away in a rapid sprint towards one of the bikes.

"Hey-!" One of them cried out, whipping out an Imperial Repeater. That was before the detonator landed with a bounce next to his and several other's feet. A cacophony of cries later were deafened by a bright orange-red explosion, rocking the infrastructure by its blast yield. By the time the others were scaling back the other way, she was already bolting ahead on her own bike.

In her rapid swerve around a four column spire front of another similar outpost, a number of bike toting mercs barreled towards her, firing their main guns at her. Blaring cries were released in the slew of single-aimed blaster bolts, packing far more punch than any light arms weapon could manage. Through her own enhanced reflexes, she reacted just in time to twist around away, avoiding one after the other as they volley of shots were aimed towards her. Overclocking the accelerator enough to move past them, she hoped that she could eventually lose them in the chase.

Ruins, buried beasts' spines, mountain-borne brooks and signs of battles long since forgotten streaked by her swift moving person. She had the decency to map out where she had left her ship so going to another pirate friendly settlement was off the table. Veering through an archway detour, she could home in on her spacecraft's location. Nearly passing through unscathed, she tossed a detonator behind her, not even bothering to watch as the timed explosion collapsed the opening and caused some fatal accidents to her pursuers.

Even still, several others had managed what her first chasers had done, vaulting up more gradual slopes of the canyon divides and shrieking down in a hail of bike-mounted lasers. Whipping out her saber, she let out a loud cry as she decelerated, pulling back just enough to pass by their throttling sides. Swiping one by the bent upper torso, she angled the other near instant arc to lacerate the bottom of his bike. The result caught it on fire, making him careen out of control in a spurting blast of orange-red flames that collided into a irregularly placed spire in the midst of her path.

The last one, she thrust her palm out as he came straddled by her side, holding a E-11 rifle towards her. His efforts were for naught as a bone wrecking Push thrashed him off his bike, tumbling the machine and sending him him bouncing with a disturbingly loud crunch. Mangled and lifeless, she left the last attacker of hers behind as she careened away, hopeful she never had to deal with another soul on this planet again.

Still, she couldn't help but wonder just how broad of an information network they possess. Lawless this planet may be, they had mercs waiting and ready, even mounting an effort on the man's house where she was going to meet him. The New Republic were careless in handing this tip to the Order, that was clear. A rapport of bandits such as these should not be aware of their next move so readily; something she was intending to report to Master Skywalker if at all possible.

" _I can't keep letting them getting away with this,_ " Jaden seethed inwardly, even as she mounted her Headhunter craft and left for hyperspace back to the Academy. " _I can't keep failing!_ "

* * *

 **A/N** : This chapter is pretty short and to the point, but I thought I might as well pay homage to it. The level was incredibly fun and being able to use speeder bikes was an ingenious move on LA's part. Apart from setting up the future plot points, Jaden's development is one of self embitterment and yearning to do better whenever she makes a mistake. Without somebody like Kyle to help her when she's in a jam or Rosh to help guide as an example, she has no one to blame but herself when things go awry.

Next chapter should be a fun one as I got a mission just in mind to help get Jaden out of her funk.


	13. Chapter 13 - Jedi Vs Hunter

Slash, stroke, step.

Slash, stroke, stroke, jab, twist and slash.

Slash, stroke, jab, slash, slash, stroke, jab, jump, and slash.

This was the repetition of practicing sequences Jaden utilized to practice her own basic alterations in between the known forms. While she had realized her knack of it when she first started studying the Old Order's styles of lightsaber combat, she was still not perfecting any of them to feel comfortable enough to single them out. The two forms she felt more than confident enough to use without switching was Form I, Shii-Cho and Form III, Soresu.

The ones she needed more refinement was the dueling style of Form II, Makashi. Lacking the formal training of more experienced Jedi and developing a knack for improvisation, Jaden only used this form when forced to clash against especially strong saber strikes. Form IV, Ataru, was something she wasn't assured in her own ability to extend herself aggressively without facing repercussions -as a testament of how this method failed by her less-than-qualified adversaries in the acolytes-. Form V, Shien was the only other form she felt she was making any progress as it ties closely to her technical prowess of Form II.

Her polishing of this saber forms had come after a restless night of half-sleeping, half-fevered tinkering. She felt she was making a bit of a headway, understanding what direction to take with her acquired salvage now that she had a proper vision in mind. It was slow going but she understood how to best formalize an end goal to reach; how to get there was still an entirely other matter.

Wanting to get some fresh air she passed by some aides to the Academy and the odd droid here and there, not seeing anyone of recognition before she took a transport over to the training course. She had been at it nearly all afternoon, with the moon's daylight almost petering into the distance. It was a light drizzle as she practiced her forms within the open courtyard where she had -in past- dueled with a properly programmed Jedi Droid, though they've yet to replace the last disposed one on account of the current business being dealt with.

Her training was the only thing she could do to keep her mind off of things in between given assignments. At the moment, the amount of requests being handed out that were of the ordinarily standard were being denied in favor of keeping students help in a mandatory capacity. No one was to be wasted in their assignments.

Finally come to a rest as the Sun began to set in the distance, letting darkness rivulet against the jungle entangled vista. She was holding her lightsaber with both hands, casting a brighter halo in the daylight receding shadows of her surroundings. Her breath came out in deep exhales and inhales, her eyes nearly closing as the desire to sleep had crept up her. Muscles ached, sweat lingered within the moisture that wet across her skin and clothes. The sensation was all through even her efforts of using the Force to mitigate her natural limitations, as her body was reaching a limit near the end.

"Koooooooooooooooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..."

Her eyes widened, the fatigue enhancing her fright as she scuffled back on stiffened legs and a sore back straightened up. Swinging her blade forward and back, she tried to find the source of the haunting whisper that drawled out. Silver eyes blinked erratically, her exhaustion playing into an avid sense of fear now clawing at her throat.

"Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssssssssssssssssssssstennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn, Kooooooooooooooooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..."

Cold chills crawled up her spine, the dampness on her exposed flesh turned into goosebumps and her breath came out shaky. The darkness began to fully set in as the Sun vanished completely from the jungle landscape, leaving the training grounds in a vaporous field of damp atmosphere and the soft drizzling that echoed faintly in the backdrop. The hissing whispers ebbed into her mind, her heart beating rapidly as her blood began to course through beneath her chilled skin, reflected from shaky breaths she kept breathing.

"Yoooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuu musssssssssssssssssssssst liiiiiiiiiiiisssssssssssssstennnnnnnnn, Kooooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrr..."

The haunting voice continued to grow in volume, intensifying the shift of horror in her surroundings. The damp vapor caused by the normally warm atmosphere of the moon soon became cold in an unearthly manner. Soon mist seemed to ensnare her environment, layering thick around her as all but the light of her saber remained of her immediate vicinity. The Echani-blooded woman swung her blade around, trying to part the fog, only succeeding in creating faint whiffs and swirls in the chilled air clouding her training grounds.

"Trrrrrrussssssssssssssst noooooooooooo ooooooooooone buuuuuuuuuuuuut yooooooouuuuursssssssellllllllllllf, Kooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Trussssssst nooooooooooo oooooooone buuuuuuuuuuuuut yooooooooooooooourssssssssssellllllllllllllllf!"

"G-Go away," She croaked out, finally finding her voice after the relentless chant cascaded over her. Clenching her chattering teeth together, her silver eyes gained a shimmering hue, reflected off the peerless glow of her majestic weapon. Raising the lightsaber up with both hands over her head, she called upon the Force, her eyes glaring into the impenetrable barrier surrounding her.

"Kooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrr," The voice swirled around her, a distinct impressionable shape moving with an almost wraith-like quality within the surrounding icy vapor. "Heeeeeeeeeeeeed myyyyyyyyyyy wooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrdssssssssss-"

"I said," Jaden finally cried out, driving her lightsaber down to the ground with a flash of luminous white light escaping the blade itself. "BEGONE!"

A faint shriek was heard all around her as the flow of the Force channeled through her body and out of the weapon's unstoppable blade. Light sheared through shadow laced water particles, emaciating the voice and dispersing what form that was on the verge of manifesting. Just as she began to stand up, she heard the faintest remainders of the hissing, echo in the background of the now night-filled courtyard of her training course.

"Wheeeeeeen yoooooooooooooou arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre lossssssssssssssssst iiiiiiiiiiiinnnnn theeeeee liiiiiiiiiiiight, fiiiiiiiiiiiind meeeeeeeeeee iiiiiiiiiinnnnn theeee shhhhaaaaaadoooowsssssss offfff thisssssssssss moooooooon...Koooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrr."

Huffing breaths, she finally departed the training course back to the shuttle, jogging the whole way. She couldn't have felt more relieved being within the cockpit of the Academy provided vessel. Leaning her head against the cushion she couldn't suppress a wave of shivers overwhelming her. Even her hands trembled at the steering wheel and the memory of the haunting warning trickled into her forethoughts. What did it know? Did it see into her future? It knew her name, so who was it?

There were still mysteries of this moon she had yet to learn. Perhaps, if she were to talk to Cale V'eel later, she could learn something?

Shaking her head, she cruised back on auto-pilot to the Academy, nearly drifting to sleep within the seat she slumped against. Not feeling safe anywhere but her room, she all but staggered out of the vessel and through the hangar, ignoring any looks she got from personnel and any stray Jedi she might have encountered. Her head was filled with fog as she finally found her room, stumbling over random scrap lying strewn across the floor. Finally finding purchase over her tent-erect bed's opening, she crawled in and shoved some of the scrap set on the sheet aside, pulling them over her as she shivered into a deep, dream-less sleep.

* * *

A rapid knock broke her out of her sleep. It felt like time had sped up from the moment she returned back to sleep. She had no concept for what time it was, but the overall feeling she had was replaced with the aches of a late work out from the day before. It was a common feeling she was growing used to, but still had no liking for it. Rolling out of her bed with a series of clangs from scrap around her, she did her best to change into something more 'fresh' that didn't smell like training.

"Just a minute!" She urged the knocker, finally finding something akin to field wear. A long red-striped black sleeved top with a high collared long-sleeved flight jacket that was unfastened to show off her undershirt beneath. With a pair of tight leggings that showed off the definitions of her athletically toned lower half, she strutted over with a pair of dark shoes to answer the door.

Strangely enough, it wasn't a person at all, but a golden plated protocol droid.

"Hello," It greeted in a bland, neutral tone it was programmed with. "Master Skywalker and Master Katarn are still away on missions. Until contact can be appropriately reached, I shall be your handler; C4P4, at your disposal."

"Ah, thanks, C4," She awkwardly waved to the droid. It was an unusual thing, as she had worked much on machines but never really kept them around, let alone had them talk to her. Droids were always that oddity in her mind that they had an imitation of sentience but were really just fare more automated than the standard tech she was used to handling. So while this was definitely odd, it was far easier to talk to something you know from the inside out than a person you have no knowledge on.

"A mission has been designated as befitting of your current caliber," The Protocol Droid dictated, gesturing for her to follow it. "If you follow me to the hangar, I shall debrief you as instructed."

"Yeah, fine," Jaden sighed, yawning a little as she trotted out with the machine.

Light had yet to seep completely in through the temple's cracks, signaling to her that it had yet to be late morning. She felt like she had slept for a long time and awakened earlier than she'd like. Had it not been for her strict regimen she put on herself when she was helping Rosh build his lightsaber she would've been a late riser every day as she'd like. But as it stood, she couldn't afford to waste a single minute of the day if she was to become stronger in body, mind and spirit.

Only a minute later of casual walking -or the maximum speed of a protocol droid- C4 began to speak aloud in his monotone, "There's been intercepted transmissions coming from Dosuun, a planet with its own solitary system in the fringes of Wild Space. Its remote position and its location dictate it being a potential suspect for the strings of attempted and successful terror strikes across the Outer Rim, from Bakura onward. Due to your familiarity with this particular sect of the Remnant, and your ability to maintain stealth when the need is called, you were picked to scout out the facility where messages were triangulated to be originated from."

"Makes sense," She replied glibly, all too familiar with Rosh and her's mission to thwart the terror act on the innocents of Bakura. Even Corellia, a Core World, wasn't free of this plot but it was conspicuously carried out by mercenaries and acolytes. It seemed odd that, while they seemed to be entangled with one another, the Imperials and Cultists have yet to be seen -outside of Yavin IV- to be working cooperatively at the same time, in the same place.

"Master Katarn was very insistent that you don't engage the Remnant, due to what had transpired with the currently MIA Rosh Penin," It added, much to Jaden's dismay on how tactless it was in mentioning her friend and fellow student. "You are to confirm the sightings of Cult and/or Remnant operations. Report back to the Academy and we shall forward resources to take care of the facility in a rapid manner."

"I got it, C4," Jaden nearly snarled, growing weary with the droid's persistent pestering all too quickly.

"You'll be given a choice of armaments in the hangar. Safe travels, Apprentice Korr," It finished, departing her before she'd smack its head.

She didn't like this scouting idea. As per usual, she was given a mission that sounds easy on the surface but was far more difficult in practice. The droid recovery, the rescue op and even the assistance on Bakura all seemed to be normal on the surface. But they always escalated when she arrived, proving that descriptors for these assignments were anything but accurate.

Gathering a handful of rifles, a bandoleer of grenades and her standard pistol, she got into her Headhunter like before and took off, wondering what exactly awaited her on the other side.

* * *

This being another trip out into Wild Space, her hyperspace venture took half a day in retrospect of her leaving the Academy. The last time she headed out this far, she had Rosh to at least pass the time by, his absence all too impacting of her usual routine. Studying more from her texts, she had an inkling to do research based on Yavin IV and the ruins that covered the jungle. In doing so she found some enlightening research that was uncovered by an archaeologist independent of the Empire and the Republic, who made some interesting hypotheses.

According to the date of the structures' creations, some of them dated back to being well over four thousand years old, while others were a thousand years younger in comparison. The ones that seemed to be the most intact were those of the newer generation and were temples similar to the one that the Alliance had used as a headquarters years ago. The architecture was similar, at first glance, but a myriad of other places dictated that a new ruler had taken the place of its former architect and only used its predecessor's likeness in construction to further its own goals.

Theorized to have once belonged to the ancient sect of sorcerers linked to the Force -as the archaeologist stated- it was likely many grounds and temples were used in arcane rituals of an unknown volume and degree of practice. Much of the inscribed lettering had eroded from age, pirate tampering and the elements of the moon itself, but what he had uncovered was that, unlike the predecessor's telltale demise linked to a distant dead world Korriban, the newer imitator architect never seemed to have been written as dying. It was an unsettling idea, even if it was done for pure hypothetical study on the history of the old moon of Yavin.

Realizing that she was on the precipice of arrival, Jaden broke out of her stupor and gripped the control stick, angling her vessel out of hyperspace and towards the signal locked into her navicomputer. Strangely, she received no feedback or even the slightest sense of activity from the radio or holo waves. Either a jammer was in play or the facility in question is long since abandoned; neither prospect sounded pleasing to her.

Dosuun, much like Corellia, was a terrestrial world full of lush green forests, grasslands, mountains and broad sweeping oceans of blue hue. The atmosphere was less humid than the Academy's moon base and the atmosphere was easily accessed once her Headhunter maneuvered just above the treelines. Even now as she approached the base, she found it eerily quiet and lacking any real projected activity. The Force was telling her something was there, but she couldn't figure _what_ at the moment.

"Better put it down, see if they're hiding in the facility's underground," She intoned to herself out loud, gingerly turning her craft to land in an old perimeter wall, partially rusted from prolonged exposure but still predominately possessing its grey-matte tint. Landing with a thud, she saw that most of the alleged Remnant facility had the same texture, seeming all but a dreary uniform in texture and partially obstructed by some forest flora on the outlying area of the fairly sized base.

Telling her astromech to buckle down and wait for her, she opened the canopy to hop on out. Once she landed on the ground she felt an immediate sense of danger. The faintest sounds of steps could be heard and the light flickered slightly in several, no a dozen, different places around her craft. Withdrawing her lightsaber, she began to cry out to her droid, "R9, start it up, it's a trap-!"

"Drop your laser sword, Jedi," A thick, guttural drawl was heard from above to her left. Turning she looked up with a sneer as she gripped her weapon. There, flanking him were two flickering figures that disengaged their own stealth units, revealing the burly commandos she's seen on Bakura. The others also promptly disengaged their light refracting tech, exposing the line of top of the line illegal and dangerous weaponry. Disruptor Rifles, Imperial Repeaters and FC-1 Flechette Launchers; the latter of which looked like a broad rectangular shaped shotgun, known for firing superheated flechettes with enough force to tear through armor and flesh completely at close range.

"If you surrender now, we may spare your life," The man up top sardonically pointed out, and from this distance, she could tell the man was grinning. "Or, maybe you'd like to take your chances?"

His belting laughter burned into her mind as she defused her lightsaber. She didn't need to use the Force to know when she's been played, and played right into their hands she did. This whole operation felt like a trap from the beginning yet she couldn't foresee this outcome. She wished she was a Seer like Cale, so she wouldn't fall for such an obvious ploy.

Disarmed, the burly men led her to a partition of the base that was all but barren. Surrounded by luminescent lighting, she was pushed into a red force field barricaded cell of steel plating from the back and two sides, framing the ceiling up with its own pulsing transparent field and the other straight ahead. It was a five foot radius circumference with nothing to sit on apart from the floor, while the barrier above her was at most ten feet if she was generous. Leaning against the far back wall, she had to resist the urge to bash her head against the metallic plating at the sensation of failure wrapping around her from the gut up her spine.

She would've curled up on the floor, had this been anywhere else. Tight spaces weren't a stranger to her, often by choice and circumstance. But she was in an enemy cell, and she was all alone. With things as they stood, she couldn't give them the satisfaction of being subdued by something of miniscule obstacles such as a brig quarters.

The sound of metal clinks were heard as heavy boots were coming down from nearby. Looking up at the ceiling field, she'd see the red static outline of the man who was responsible for catching her. He was a heavyset man, with a gut implicating him for being in charge of an outpost like this that rarely sees action. His stature told her he was a big man, perhaps an even six foot, and didn't look terribly out of shape apart from the aforementioned beer belly. Wearing matte grey coat over what she assumed was a plain undershirt, the cargo pants and boots looked standard issue for Imperials but he looked horribly unkempt from the neck up. Shadows of encroaching facial hair led up from his jowels up his face, not enough to form a beard but on the verge to doing so. Curly brown hair lie in a messy heap atop his head and his blue eyes stared with an obvious laziness one could expect of a person who looked like he did.

"My name is Rax Joris, the commanding officer of this Imperial Prison," The main introduced from above, grinning more sloppily as he intoned with a wave of his hand. "Or, I was, until the damned Empire loss so pathetically. Remnant, they're called, and what a shell of their glory they've become. In exchange for running this facility without interruptions to my authority I've become a little bit of a celebrity as of recently. No doubt that's why you've come here in the first place, no? To investigate this place and corroborate it to ties of the particular Remnant fellows harassing your Republic space?"

Part of her wanted to snap at the man, immediately thrash him around with the Force from her position. But still, there was a relative army of Imperials here if not a large enough contingent to make things trouble if she couldn't get out of this prison block. If she was to stand any chance, she'd have to play along, at least for now.

Still, if Rosh has taught her anything, it was to not let bad situations ruin one's countenance.

"Maybe I like sight-seeing?" Jaden lied with a half smile, crossing her arms over her chest as she continued to lean against the cell wall. "You looked like a good place to set up a Junk Shop, what with how run-down everything looked. You sure you're not in the market for selling the property?"

"It seems you have a bit of a mouth on you, for a prisoner," Rax snorted with amusement, withdrawing from his coat's pocket a familiar cylinder shaped object. Seeing that got the expected reaction, as the silver eyed and platinum haired Echani Jedi clenched her mouth shut. The glare he received brought a broad smile to his face, enabling him to ask with a slight tilt of his head. "On that note, what do you think of our accommodations?"

"Why don't you come down here and find out!" She snapped, finally standing upright with fists balled at her hips.

"Ah, feisty," He drawled out, nodding as he tossed the saber up into the air and caught it with measured motions, much to her obvious chagrin. "Good, good."

Leaning down, he lowered his voice and spoke to her in a more frank manner, "You see, ever since my superiors' went dark things have been dreadfully dull around here. I've came up with a solution to cure my boredom in the way of letting my prisoners run free. The only catch is, they'd have to outrun me, and I've yet to lose a single one. As you can see," He gestured to the many empty cells both adjacent and across from her. "I've long since run out of prisoners to pass the time. So I'd like to play this game with you."

"I'm guessing you're not going to make it easy," She stated obviously, almost on the verge of laughing at the mocking prospect of letting her run around without being restrained. "Otherwise you wouldn't just let me go free."

"You catch on quick," He smirked, pocketing the lightsaber back within his coat as his hands graced the bare space just next to the ceiling force field. "If you can somehow manage to get away, you're free to leave. But, if I catch you, I'm going to have to shoot you. Hopefully you'll be better sport than that bounty hunter I caught a few days ago..."

"And if I don't play along?" Jaden inquired with an arch of her brow.

"Then you can rot in your cell," Rax spat out with a sigh, pushing himself with effort back onto his feet. He eyed her with a bored expression, shrugging with emphasis. "I'm sure someone will come looking for you. Eventually."

Turning to walk away, she heard his voice insidiously growl out as his boots clang noisily away from her.

"Let the games begin!"

* * *

Five minutes. That's how long it took for the force field to finally shut off. And it wasn't just the floor level one, it was the field above her, forcing her to use a Force propelled jump to make the distance. Feeling naked without a weapon, she bent to a precautionary crouch and hugged the nearest safety glass framed wall, an octagonal shaped interior bunker that was an immediate observation center to the rest of the lower floored cell block. Hearing the whooshing sound of an automatic door opening, the clang of boots clicking in, she could tell it was just a single trooper; his feet were too light to be Rax.

After hearing nothing and turning around to exit, she made a quick hobble around the corner into the post. Thankfully the observation post was home to a pair of weapon racks, each containing two fully loaded E-11's and one Repeater a piece. Grabbing a single E-11, she unloaded the clips of the others and stuffed what she could into her jacket and pockets, while hefting the Repeater over her shoulder.

Exiting the door, she leaned left and right, it was the outdoors to the facility grounds. Arched light posts of grey hue spaced evenly paved the way along the equally dull colored flooring placed along the way. The immediate forward direction was the vista of mountains and forests, a vertical drop ensuring escape through any other way than the ship she came in on was ill advised.

Turning around the corner, she saw some five troopers, all passing each other in different patrol routes.

One of them spotted her, immediately raising his weapon to fire.

Thankfully, her use of Speed enabled he wouldn't get that chance.

"Hey you-gragh!" He began to exclaim, until he was pelted several times by her laser rifle.

The others began to turn and fire in junction, only to find themselves faced with a blur white and brown, twisting around to physically knock into them before unleashing a slew of blaster bolts in their chest cavities. Ordinarily a single shot or several could be absorbed by the plasteel plating these troopers wore but the precision and number of shots she expended was enough to ensure they wouldn't get back up. Ending the conflict in a matter of seconds, she took a jog over their strewn corpses only to dodge a thunderous bolt of cobalt energy.

"This Jedi sure moves quickly," Rax muttered to himself as he took aim with his Stouker concussion rifle. The massive weapon could easily be mistaken for a mounted cannon, but its heft could be managed through experience and endurance training. The black barreled, handled and stock weapon had a round grey coloring that extended past the ammo chamber and the shaft up to its tip. Releasing sonic propelling slugs of destructive energy, this Remnant adopted tech was once used by a savage alien species known as the Sissk; now in the hands of a madman, touting the colors of the old Empire.

Had Jaden not felt the prudence to keep moving, she swerved left and right, narrowly avoiding the seismic shockwaves of the rifle's projectiles launched. Seeing that he took time to aim in between his attacks, this gave her the opportunity to heft around the Repeater, unleashing a slew of golden orbs towards him. She had a brief smile as they made contact on his unarmored person, till a flicker of energy appeared around his person, entailing that he had a personal force field activated on his person.

Still, she had lay enough damage on his last resort defense that he backed away through the upper floor balcony, sealing it from the inside with a visible lit inclination of Green to Red.

"Coward only likes to hunt when he's not in danger," She spat, ensuring she strapped the E-11 around her shoulder as she walked towards the nearest entrance the path led to.

This time, she was within a tall ceiling and narrow corridor path. To her right, a squad of stormtroopers were assembled outside of what she could only assume was a break room, now armed and walking casually out. On the left was a cadre of similar numbered troopers near the elevators, though their lights were all Red, with the exception of a single nearby Green door that showed it was unlocked.

Turning the right corner, she unleashed a potent Force Push towards the first two troopers, sending them tumbling into their friends. Even as they tumbled awkwardly into each other, they couldn't mount a sufficient counterattack as she hefted her Repeater and fired its secondary fire. Explosive, fiery violet energy arched up into the air and detonated over their bodies and heads, much like a plasma grenade of sorts. As they cried out in agonized death throes, the troops by the elevator noticed her presence and began to open fire.

Hugging the corner, she unleashed a salvo of Repeater rounds, aiming for a trooper that fired hissing sprays of flechettes that cracked the metal plated wall with each recoiling shot. It took a number of bolts, but he eventually went down, forcing her to change weapons out and burst fire her E-11 at the other three troopers, downing each one as she ducked and rolled out of the way of their own exchanged blaster fire. Once the last one went down, she was quick to exchange energy cells, reloading her rifle and adding the Flechette in exchange for her Repeater.

With the molten fragment shotgun in hand, she easily cleared the occupied room housing an officer who was beside a lever-accessed panel that would disengage the lockdown. Firing the weapon gave her an exhilarating rush she didn't feel with other weapons, as the heft and destructive force was addicting to feel as much as witness its results. White armor exploded in close proximity, shredding them and bloodying their bodies with its incredible shredding potency. The officer himself turned into eviscerated chunks, almost causing her to retch at such a gory execution she invoked.

"There goes the lockdown," She sang aloud, hearing the faintest of whirs of the doors being unlocked.

"ATTENTION! THERE'S AN ESCAPED PRISONER ON THE LOOSE IN THE FACILITY! SHOOT HER ON SIGHT! I REPEAT, SHOOT ON SIGHT!"

"And here I thought you wanted me to escape," She clicked her tongue, smiling almost ruefully as she began to make her way out of the room and back into the corridor. Approaching a doorway that led to what she assumed was another exit, she pushed past a pair of pistol-toting personnel. They had bulkier helmets on and looked like what she'd assume were engineers. They fired in a panic, missing as she casually strut in and unleashed flechette spray that took them both down easily, accessing the elevator of the broad room upwards.

Then, she found an interesting room. A vaulted ceiling, surrounded by luminescent lights in a much more darker coloration of near ebony tiles from odd steps up and down. Strategic data was being cycled around on random holo-screens, entailing specs for what she could tell were different unit types and technology used by the Remnant sect working with the Cult. One of which was the obvious commando training process, one seemingly intimately laid out all around her in this office.

Stormtroopers came barreling in near the back of the platform raised computer, unleashing a hail of projectiles in haste to catch her off guard.

"You know," She began to say, her body Speedily juking around her shots while unleashing more molten grenade fire at their ranks. "I have to wonder just how much you're paid by your boss. Because, in my opinion," She finished as a few more shots of her flechette tore their armored bodies apart, finishing the last of the near dozen troopers in a bloodied, fragmented mess around the office. "It wasn't enough."

Jogging around, she glanced at the computer lay-out, noticing it must have been linked to the whole hub of the former Imperial Prison. Now it was keeping check of everything, from incoming calls and signals to ongoing progress of training regimens of commandos. Even assistance in providing assets to create the bombs for the Remnant was facilitated here, even if by a third party they were running interim to their terrorist activity.

"Well, at least we know what they're doing out here," She muttered aloud to herself, looking at the desk and spotting another lever-panel. Smirking, she grasped the handle and pushed it forward with a satisfying clank. "And, there goes the last of your security measures, Rax."

She wish she could see the look on his face now.

Rushing out of the most straight path of the office exit, she stumbled into what she'd see was a barracks of sorts. The troopers were in the midst of gathering their stuff, more than likely just armored up by their positioning near their beds. Whipping out their weapons, they were unprepared for the Jedi Apprentice to begin to duel wield the flechette and the E-11, unleashing a hail of superheated metal and arrows of red light. Unprepared and uncoordinated, the two dozen plus troops were annihilated along with their officers, leaving them all but in ruins as she found a doorway leading back to the outside.

Curtailing through more resistance, she found what she could assume was a shooting range, with images of inhuman holo-monsters for the tripod mounted turrets. Switching an obvious lever off, it turned off a blue static field over the wall, meant to absorb the punishing blows of a turret gun. Grasping one, she unleashed a salvo of turret fire, almost giddy at the jolts she received from her hands up her shoulders by the force of the weapon's recoil. Blasting apart the wall till it was nothing but a pile of rubble, she finally let go and jogged back outside.

Making a turn left, she saw what she assumed was a possible entry towards the hangar...that was blocked by an stomping AT-ST.

The Chicken Walker, as it was affectionately named was the little brother of the AT-AT. Mobile anti-infantry machines, these dual-piloted walkers came equipped with two rocket launchers and a nose mounted twin-turret that fired in conjunction with each other. Unleashing fire towards her, she'd be forced to hide around a support beam as it stomped far more quickly than she'd like.

Looking down at her Flechette Launcher, she realized she'd have to go all in without holding back. Turning around the corner, she Sped up to outpace the head's pivot over its awkwardly placed legs, unleashing molten grenade after grenade at the exposed pilot viewing ports. The blasts melted the plating around it, concussively affecting the pilots and their mechanisms on the inside. Nearly half a dozen made successful contact, and finally brought the walker to a creaking, buckling crash onto the ground.

Tossing her weapon aside, she pulled her rifle out and fired at a pile of precariously placed explosives next to the structure window, entering it through there. Her jaunt through led her to a walker bay, making her thankful not all of them were active at once. Taking an elevator up, she'd find a switch that'd take her through the upper wall path to the hangar bay. Leaving it on a distant corridor, filled with supply crates angled here and there, she'd see Rax distantly on a podium where the hangar door was sure to be.

"You've done well, Jedi," He complimented dryly, pulling out his concussion rifle to bear towards her from the distance. "Too well! It's time to end this game!"

"I agree to that!" She shouted back, ducking down and weaving between the durable crates. Had it not been to the shocking vibrations upsetting the air, she wouldn't have noticed a commando's presence right up next to her until the last moment. Having burst fired her in hopes of catching, she engaged Protection, the barrier sustaining itself enough to deflect and absorb a few shots as she narrowly rolled away, firing back. His armor beneath his grey suit took a few blows before his face was shot, searing flesh and scoring through his skull with a gurgled cry.

Another commando weaved in between his maddened superior's shots, unleashing Disruptor beams her way. Yanking the weapon from his grip towards her own hand with the Force, she threw him into a forward tumble that ended with an unintentional shattering by the distant concussive blasts. Speeding from cover to cover, she took down a few more commandos before she fired a Disruptor at Rax, dispersing his shield and burning his shoulder.

He snarled and ran inside, a handful of stormtroopers coming out in exchange to exchange fire at her to slow her approach.

"Out of the way!" She shouted aloud, her body blurring into them in what seemed like a tackle. Then with a thrashing swing of her arms, came a throttling Force Push, throwing them off the upper storied area to a series of clanging crunches on the grassy ground below. She would've taken time to acknowledge her near effortless feat of the Force had it not been for her urgency to get to Rax.

Even as a noticeable mirage of a commando tried to fire at her, she all but casually thrust him into a nearby wall with a loud crunch. Her emotions were wracking her mind, the need to escape far from her mind and the desire for revenge against this putrid man was all she could think about. She practically craved to see this man in torment for the humiliation she subjected her. Even more, she took what belonged to her; what was hers by right!

As she tried to walk around the corner, she saw at the bottom of the hangar was the recently acquired Headhunter ship she flew in on. But, as she took a step, she felt a pang of alarm, recoiling her to back step away as a seismic blast of cobalt energy almost shattered her body. Up at the top of the hangar, looking down past many floors of suspended TIE Fighters, Rax drawled out over the near empty space, sparsely populated by pilots and troopers alike.

"Well played, Jedi," He droned out, his weapon held behind his back as he stared at her from the distance with a thinned glare. She could practically envision his sneer as he spoke. "Tragically I can't have you leaving to tell anyone about my... _little operation_."

"Who said I was leaving yet, Rax?!" She snarled out, unleashing a barrage of blaster bolts from the distance. It was shot too automatically to be accurate, but the effect was enough that it ensured she wouldn't be fired upon again. He hid away, more than likely finding some good perch or cover to hide from her in an efforts to land a significant blow.

Sadly for him, she was much too fast to be hit. With her heart beating like a drum in her chest, she all but felt numb to any potential aches she may have had at the beginning of her day. She was now a rushing movement without any real definition and detail to the human eye. Even as pilots, troopers and commandos alike tried to heft weapons up at her, she blitzed passed them, simply pushing them aside physically with enough velocity that they were broken by mere touch. The distant thunderclaps of Rax's concussion rifle filled the periphery of her senses as she vaulted from floor to floor, gaining ever closer to her goal and her prized possession.

Reaching the top floor, her form had all but ran along the side of the wall towards him, the distant hammering shots now near deafeningly close. Each came within a few feet of striking her, the momentum allowed by the Force pushed her closer and closer. Seeing him perfectly exposed, a look of near panic crossing his eyes, she grinned uncharacteristically savage in the blur of her own Speed.

Kicking off the wall, she flipped around in an aerodynamically beautiful motion that avoided his pounding shots, her plait whipping behind her head as she landed with a nearby crouch. Anticipating he was going to turn to fire, she leaped forward in a pounce, wanting to claw at his face.

But he surprised her as he twisted away at the last moment, watching her sprawl helplessly in a hugging whiff where he once been. Sweat slapped from her sleeves as she fell awkwardly to the floor, the Speed finally inactive and her stamina was all but sapped. It took all she had to not keel over, but remaining on all fours was an effort in of itself. Turning to look up at him, she'd suddenly feel a boot to her ribs, causing her to croak out a wind full of air from her lungs.

"Ha! Not so nimble now, are you?!" He guffawed, watching her hug her torso in agony. Pulling back his foot again, he began to stomp on her shoulder, her back and her chest, repeatedly pressing the military issue leather into her with all of his weight behind each kick. He spat out as he all but forgot the massive weapon in his hand, aiming to drag out the game now that it was fun to him again. "You shot me in the shoulder! You killed my men and wrecked my complex! Do you realize how long it's going to take me to get restaffed? To get anything back to the way it was?! If I wasn't having fun kick your little body in, I'd be even more furious than I am now!"

Each pummel drove into her just how close she was to victory, how wrong she was to assume her enemy wasn't agile enough to avoid her last attack. Her body couldn't handle the level of Speed she was enacting, so fiercely for so long. Had her head been clear...no, she couldn't think clearly at all. Not while she was getting pounded into the ground by this fat, sadistic cretin!

Pressing his boot onto her hand covered side, he squeezed the heel against it, grinning with a eye-widened jeer. She could practically taste the sour breath, the noxious odor of his body's perspiration and the hunger for her pain being whetted. This cruel sport was nothing more than a joke by a man who had lost all dignity and stature for years. She was just another victim, another body to add to the pile. Her lightsaber would be just a trophy, kept in his palms as something to remember how he bested his strongest prey.

No.

She wasn't prey.

That was the last thing she was to be if she were to die.

"Fun as this is, I think I'll end it now," He grinned, hoisting his weapon up to be nearly flat against her face. "Goodbye, Jedi."

CLICK!

The weapon clicked but nothing came out. The faint sound of a cartridge ejecting caused Rax to arch a brow with bewilderment, watching it clatter to the floor and skid away. Turning to look back at her, he'd blink indignantly as a glowing pair of silver eyes looked his way.

Without warning, he was sent flying. An intangible field enveloped his whole being, throttling him across the top floor rampart until he crashed against the wall with a savage crack. Hacking out blood, his eyes bulged, his face spewing ichor as he was shoved in place.

"You're right, Rax," Jaden spoke lowly, pushing herself up as she felt the Force flow through her once again. The anger she felt fueled her body's sapped reserves, her ire and focused hate was now but healing the damage done in by the obese, corrupt Imperial. With a boundless flow of wisping energy of an eerie grey hue, she extended a single hand in a claw-like manner, her teeth bared in complement for her silver orbs' glare aimed at her captive. "This is goodbye!"

A pain-filled scream was heard as his backside was ground up the wall, bowling through the infrastructure over her head till he was jerked just into the ceiling. Feeling bones break and ligaments snap, she'd twist him around in a gesture of her wrist, before clenching her fingers into her palm to form a fist. Thrusting her knuckles down, she'd smash his body with a loud thuum, echoing with a meaty crunch that splattered blood and shreds of his uniform.

Surprising even her, he let out a rasping wheeze as he hacked up blood in the spot she dropped him into.

"I guess...I underestimated you...Jedi," Rax coughed, a trembling hand reaching into his coat. Without even touching it, he'd feel it wiggle in its depths before soaring out, being caught by Jaden's outstretched hand as she wearily clenched it in a now sober grip. Noticing her expression shifted, he grinned with bloodstained teeth, chuckling aloud. "What's the matter...hm? Don't have...the...stomach to kill me now?"

"I doubt you'll live long after this," Jaden stated in a cold, factual manner. "You're tougher than you look, but even if you still have men left alive in this facility, I doubt you have bacta in plentiful supply to put you back in good condition. At the very least, maybe being crippled will put some humility in you."

"Then...why not...finish me? Hm?" He asked with a raspy cough. "What? Jedi...forget...the concept...of mercy?"

"You slaughtered inmates for your own amusement. I don't think a warden dying a cripple would be a huge injustice," She dismissed, turning away from the man with a slow gait. "Stay here for whatever time you'll have left."

"Hey! Coward!" He rasped out, wheezing out his cries as he struggled to sit upright. "Jedi! I've seen your face! You'll be sorry you left me alive!"

"Sure," She dully answered with a wave of her saber armed hand. "Sure I will."

"I know people! I'll make sure anyone who matters to you suffers far worse than what you did to me!"

She stopped short.

"Yeah, you know, haha!" He laughed, choking a bit in between before spitting out a wad of dark ichor next to his face. Without turning, he could tell she was visibly shaken by this information. Cackling aloud, he raised a shaky finger at her. "You know what Imperials do to captives, don't ya? I'll find the weakest, feeble of your friends. And when they're through, they'll wish they were crippled!"

"Shut up," She snapped.

"Or what?!" He hacked with amusement. "What's to stop me from making a call now?! I bet your friend is one ugly two-faced freak; bet he deserves to be put into the ground like the deranged mutant that he is-!"

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

Jaden lit up a storm of virulent energy. All at once she had conjured up a powerful, white-hot hatred that physically manifested as a torrential surge of electrical energy. Coiling outward in a wide berth of forked tongues of flashing bolts, the sorcerous power engulfing the back prone man in his indented plating. A howling shriek ripped through his throat as he was penetrated past flesh, through blood and bone marrow into the circulatory and nervous system. His whole body, while visibly cooked and scorched on the outside, was highlighted in the midst of azure transparent flashes of his skeleton, painting a grisly display of pure unadulterated murder at the hands of an enraged Jedi.

But, just as quickly as it happened, it ceased in a withdrawal of absolute horror.

Her free outstretched hand sought her mouth, cupping it to mask a scream of fright of what she had done. Nothing remained of Rax Joris other than a blackened skeleton and a charred pit he was crushed into. The man who had mocked, imprisoned and made sport in hunting her was slain in the most brutal of ways by her hands. He deserved nothing less, but what she did to someone who was all but unarmed and defenseless was...so cruel, to her.

Gripping her lightsaber tightly, she quickly staggered away from the hangar, taking heaving breaths as her body wracked with blood curdling horror and guilt she was feeling. Quickly finding access to her craft, she all but tried to distance this place from her mind and escape this facility. Exiting the hangar, she'd leave all but a fraction of the ex-prison's staff alive from her breakout and throttle up into space.

Where she'd be alone to contemplate her use of the Dark Side to murder.

* * *

 **A/N** : This was a Chapter I took a bit of liberty to set up for. Not only does Jaden not feel like she deserved the rank of Apprentice after failing to stop Alora, but the disappearance of Rosh is starting to mess her up. Her training is all that strives her and now, a shadow on the moon of Yavin IV lurks nearby, telling her to trust no one but herself and to seek it out should she wish its aid. What does this mean? The plot thickens, surely!

I liked and disliked this mission simultaneously. Not only did I HATE Jax for stealing my Player Character's lightsaber and forcing me to play his game, but I generally hated the fact that in a game where you're supposed to be a Jedi, you're given a mission that takes away your trademark weapon. However, on the other hand, it feels good to have a level crafted with Dark Forces fans in mind. While it isn't a perfect mission, it's challenging just enough to keep players on their toes and to feel badass as you use Force Powers in conjunction with the game's fun slew of weapons to get revenge of Rax.

Wanting to set up some foreshadowing, I gave a little more purpose to Jaden's encounter to our fat Imperial foe before she ultimately succumbed to the Dark Side to annihilate him. As someone who's only killed out of defense or necessity, Jaden feels horrified at the prospect of murdering someone due to them making threats. Even if they touched a little close to home, her training in the Force has unlocked something both useful and terrible to abuse if she'd allow it. How will this affect her for missions to come?

Find out in the next chapter, of Jedi Knight: Temptations!


	14. Chapter 14 - A Forced Entry

"I see," Kyle grimly murmured out, crouching in front of the holo-projector as the image of Jaden's distraught expression filled out the blue field of recreated static of his other student. He was regaled about how the mission that was supposedly to scout an abandoned complex was just a ruse to lure anyone seeking the signal to ensnare them in a crooked Imperial's web. He had known people like him, both during his service and after he left the Empire; those that abused the system and used clout to hide from the potential consequences that'd fall upon their heads.

And yet, he couldn't wholly blame her for reacting in the way she did. He too was goaded into murder before a helpless opponent, one that brought up the witnessing actions of his father's killer mutilating his body and laughed in his face. He gave into the sweet, euphoric taste of revenge as he ended his nemesis' life only to recede back into that calm place to keep himself from turning completely.

"Listen, Jaden," He intoned, making the silver-eyed girl finally look back up his way as he stared back with darkened orbs. "I'm not going to tell you did nothing wrong. It was, and the fact you know it is a good thing. But don't let guilt and sorrow cloud your mind. We all make mistakes. Our purpose is to ensure we set a good example by never repeating the same ones before. We are not our enemies who justify slaughter and profess goodness out of evil for their own intentions. Remember that being a Jedi isn't meaning to be perfect, but to do good and be the best we can be for others to follow and look up to."

"Y-Yeah," Jaden shakily nodded, affirming with a still saddened grin but a glint of appreciation echoing from her eyes. "You're right. I-I'll try to get over this. It's still a lot to...to take in...you know?"

"I do," Kyle nodded sagely. "More than you know."

"You'll have to share some of those tales eventually," She switched topics, slyly curling a part of her face as she forced her expression to not exert pain but humor.

Chuckling lowly, he stroked a gloved hand across his beard, shaking his head at her, "In due time, maybe I'll tell you the whole story. It's quite a long one after all-"

"Mmph! Mpppph!"

"Ah, got to go," Kyle cutting himself off as he heard a nearby muffled sound. Winking at Jaden, he gestured to her in farewell. "Keep at it, Jaden. While it's a shame we didn't get more from Rax, we did put a halt to their production of commandos and other operations to this mysterious Remnant sect. Less bodies for the Cult to throw at us in the long run."

"You're right," Jaden nodded more emphatically, grinning back at him in earnest. "I'll get back to it. See you when you're back at the Academy!"

"Later," He signed off, deactivating the holo-projector with a click of a remote. Walking up to pick it up, he pocketed as he turned to face a gagged individual. He wore Imperial officer colors, tan in color with a colored striped metal on his upper left uniform's chest, indicating he was fairly high ranked. Bereft of his hat, his messy dark hair was frayed and retained crusted blood along the scalp -some of which dried along the side of his left temple-. With a black left eye and a busted nose, the simple cloth covering his mouth and tied in a knot behind his skull.

Walking over to stare at the man who muffled in protest, his hands bound behind his back and his body lying in a slouched position against a boulder. It was one of many rocks on this barren world of sediment and dust, a mining world long since abandoned. This was a common thing to find out here in the Deep Core, as many planets that existed in this place were on the verge of being wiped out by imminent gravity warps and exploding stars, finding places such as this with a minimally stable atmosphere was optimum for Kyle to locate.

He had help, of course. Contacts and allies that aided him in locating Remnant patrols, places where they'd skirmish or were known to make routine runs through. He had to ensure that he didn't attack them openly nor just approach any one single craft. The former mercenary had to approach this entire ordeal in the way that past routes corroborated with the arrival of his missing student. If the Remnant weren't responsible, then perhaps did they see who was, for example...

"So, I got in from a reliable source that you were overseeing the scanning of potential hostiles in this area of space," He began to intone, his eyes looking down at the terrified man. Squatting down so he was at eye level, he pulled out his trademark Briar Pistol, holding the massive hand cannon till it was level with the kidnapped Imperial's face. Priming it with a building whir, the orange-white glow built within till it was nearly bursting from the seams of the barrel, allowing the squirming captive to scream behind his gag. "I'm going to make this simple so we don't waste either of our precious times. Did you find something out in the Byss system a week ago?"

He nodded, desperately breathing through his bloodied nostrils.

"Was it a lone craft?"

The officer, hesitantly, nodded again.

"Was the pilot a Jedi?"

The officer shivered in place, unable to decide if he should let him know. Pushing the gun closer towards him till the heat of the patiently built energy nearly burned his brow caused him to shriek with terror. Shaking his head up and down, he kicked his heels in the ground in visible, fearful retaliation.

"Did he have spiky hair and cream-red robes?" He pressed further, getting another nod. Grimly he licked his lips and defused the stored energy, holstering his gun. Walking away from his captive, he pulled out a comm and pressed it towards his mouth, clicking it for the discreet channel linked to only one other person.

"Luke, it's me. I've just got confirmation from an official source. Our pals from the Remnant ran into our MIA student; Rosh is captured."

* * *

 **Mission Briefing** : We have received anonymous information that a large influx of assassin droids have flooded the black market recently. These droids have been banned for years, even by the Empire, and no public company produces them that we know of. It is suspected that a local crime lord, Lannik Racto, is responsible for manufacturing these droids. Capture Racto and determine the droid factory's location. Considered small-time, even by his peers, this task should be easy to complete without too much difficulty.

* * *

Jaden had taken time to recover from her mission on Dosuun, though far less than she'd have liked. With the demand of aid from the Academy still at an all time high, she was called upon only a day afterwards. Clothing into a protective mesh beneath a long-sleeved, blue-outlined white hooded tunic, her lower body was covered by a similar blend of blue on white, straight down to the pair of boots. She thought this was a bit much but Meelik suggested that sometimes, having a complementing apparel match her Echani-born features would make her stand out in all the best ways.

The only things that truly didn't mesh with her clothing choice was the weapons she brought with her. The pistol was concealed on a sharply contrasting black holster on her blue-striped white hip, the Disruptor holstered over one shoulder and the E-11 strapped along her lower back.

Piloting her Headhunter to Coruscant was a bit closer of a distance than she was used to. It did, however, give her time to collect herself and calm her mind for the upcoming inevitable struggle. Preparing for the worst and hoping for the best was becoming her new motto at this point. Her situation of being captured and toyed with was a rarity, but it was something she knew could happen at any point throughout her life as a Jedi.

The Light that had given her comfort and sanctuary was starting to seem less certain, the stronger she became in the Force. She knew this was a result of finally opening up and becoming more comfortable in her new setting of adventure and social interaction with fellow students and masters. It was like a flower bud finally blooming, unfurled to the Sun and experiencing what life was like beyond the initial curled stage she had submitted herself to. There was so much positive to it, thanks to her relationships she was forging and the bonds cemented between those dearest to her.

But the negatives were now even more adamant. Her anger was enhanced by the mystical energy she was now entangled with, her senses heightened and awareness spiking. Every time she tapped into the energy, whatever her countenance reflected in the power that surged through her. It was like being shot up with a stim but on a factor of surreal multiplication beyond her ability to explain. This energy was capable of soothing her as much as tormenting depending on what flux of thoughts and feelings that passed through her consciousness into her body.

The doubts swirling in her mind was a battle she fought since that day she murdered Rax Joris. She was already teetering on the edge when she summoned the Force to punish him. She tried to let it go, and leave him suffering, but his words cut icy daggers of fear into her heart. The insults of her first, dearest friend only served to incite an unexplained infernal hatred that exploded forth from the seams. It was surprising when a power she was only partially familiar with had been channeled through her hands, cast so vehemently and instantly with such deadly power that killed him in mere seconds.

As the screams carried her into the night, she forced her eyes closed, calming herself and bringing her mind back to the mental image of the jewel that protected her from the darkness of her soul. The gentle hum that resonated through her core extended past her spirit and into her chilled pores, its passive warmth gently caressing her into a state of tranquility and peace. This was why she was in love with her newfound gift, and why fearing it brought her no real peace.

Even now as she could lean back into the seat of her Z-95 Headhunter she could extend her awareness to the astromech droid's circuits, the faint hum of its core sparking and possibly in need of a tune-up. The passive thuum of the engine's hyperdrive as it maintained an even pulse to keep the ship propelling swiftly through the faster than light current that severed time and bent space to the occupant's whim. Coils of power stirred all around her and past the river of streaking blue and white of the emptiness beyond, proving that her cognitive faculties were absorbing more and more of a supernatural scale.

She wished the dream was without ending before the bleep and whir of deceleration was noticed by her senses. Pulled slowly out of her near panorama of her flight path and the craft she presided within, her eyes opened and was gifted with the sight she didn't think she'd see so soon.

Coruscant, the Queen of the Core, glittered in a beautiful way she never had seen from the time her life was spent in its bowels. Orange-golden glows stretched across the ecumenopolis, far more pronounced in its current night cycle rotation from where she approached. She processed her entry with the New Republic entry with Academy codes, and was allowed to enter the densely packed atmosphere of air traffic. Weaving in and around the constant air taxis and off-world vessels, she'd veer off into the darker parts of the upper levels, nearing the spots of the metropolis eerily familiar to places she had lived by.

Glamor and splendor was replaced with seediness to carnal satisfaction, bulbed lightings ranging from bright pinks to halos of greens and reds. Far less sophisticated banners and imagery was used to lure people into one of many known Red Light Districts of the planet wide city, but was still removed enough that it was in its own climate. Here was an array of not-so-tall towers, home to less than impressive rivals in both structure and design to the rest, fitting right into the ill-painted and designed atmosphere of this side of the continent.

Finding his parking space on a suspended landing pad empty, Jaden chose the direct route and landed her Headhunter there. Veering around, the swirling masses of life and conducting energy filled her mind with an almost electric miasma to her Jedi senses. Even though it was a different place than her home, it was a wholly new outlook on life she could see it as. She could now see power, industry and people all flowing in this ever-flowing sea of interconnected ribbons, tying everyone in a giant web that expanded far beyond comprehension.

She was so lost in the moment that R9 had to tweet insistently at her to get out of the cockpit.

"Ah! Sorry, R9!" She exclaimed with a blush of shame. Hitting a few switches to shut down the spacecraft, she hit a switch to open the cockpit to the open air of the titled 'Undercity' despite being relatively high up elevation-wise. Hoisting herself out of the opening canopy, she made a casual hand-propped front flip to land on the landing pad's platform.

The landing pad possessed a single, grey-matte paved walkway towards a single impressive door, more than likely constructed to resist unsavory guests. Sighing, she hoped to resolve this quickly as she had thoughts of perhaps paying her dear friend a visit. Walking away from her Headhunter, she didn't move far across the walkway's bridge to the office tower entrance till the massive door whooshed up and clanked audibly in place.

A dark brown bearded man, bearing an infuriated grimace, emerged from the shadow of his massive doorway. He had long leather gloves covering up to his elbows, a pair of shoulder pads connected by a metal belt to his waist outlined his light blue long-sleeved dress shirt with neutral mustard coloring near the waist and collar. Cobalt colored slacks led to a similar tinted pair of boots to his gloves, giving him a professionally illicit look to cover.

Raising up a remote of some kind, he gestured towards Jaden, causing her to stop her approach in surprise as he bellowed out with expectation, "Did you think you can just barge in here and take me into custody, Jedi?!"

Not waiting for a reply, he clicked the remote in hand, causing the bridge between them to explode within a broad radius. The cascading series of detonations was violent enough for Jaden to force herself to leap backwards, hurling herself in a tumble in the air through the Force to avoid the resulting shockwaves and debris flung around. Landing in a three-limb slide, she looked up from her sprawled posture, seeing the man turn his back on her and seal the massive door behind himself.

Sighing, Jaden stood upright with a weary expression on her face, "Guess that rules out the front door idea. Wonder how I'm going to get around that?"

Closing her eyes, she channeled the Force to give her the clairvoyance necessary. From her position she could make out a host of voices, all within a reasonable distance, calling out to one another in Basic, Huttese and Trandoshan. Mercenaries, she figured, were circling around the alternative routes that'd lead to Racto's office. The tower more than likely was too durable to simply use her ship's cannons on and a jump of that distance was far greater than even her leap she made back on Tatooine's spaceport.

Opening her silver orbs to the seedy lit environment once again, she huffed as she trotted off to the ring of patrolling mercs. Leaping down a series of platforms from behind her parked ship, she angled around a series of improvised walkways and building tops to balconies to her destination. During her skirting around, she'd find a particular gap to a distant building where she needed to get across.

Just as the thought entered her mind how to get across, a pair of hovering speeders parked across from her, all possessing a trio of mercs to unleash a host of fire upon her.

"Guess that works too!" She cried out, whipping her saber out as the blue-outlined, white dressed Echani woman initiated Soresu. The Third Lightsaber Form's pattern of deflection allowed her to concentrate her energies on manifesting a pulsing emerald barrier, strengthening her body's endurance to damage. Then, with what remained of her stamina, she coiled her body back and sprang forth in a forward leap to the nearest speeder.

Bolts singed and whiffed past her emerald shell of Force energy, the rest were reflected back in an application of Shien straight at a Weequay in front of her. Bracing herself on the body with a meaty crunch, she twisted around to employ Shii-Cho to slash the torso and neck of the Rodians on either side of her person. As they cried out, one falling back to clench at a wound that killed it within seconds, the other howled in a distant cry as he fell deep down into the abyss of Coruscant's metal space below.

A Trandoshan standing apart hefted his Imperial Repeater up, unleashing a horde of golden orbs, sizzling her barrier of what she didn't deflect in another measured leap from transport to transport. Twisting around to land a heel kick to the lizard-humanoid's skull, he domino'd into his three compatriots, causing a Gran to topple off the back end of the speeder, scorched by the suspension thrusters and howling in a wailing cry out of sight and mind. In a quick withdrawl of her DL-44, she downed the sprawled pair, ending their lives before they could make counterattacks to her person.

Turning her eyes to face the last space between her and the nearby structure, she released her barrier and made the distance in a gliding jump. Landing on the other side, she maneuvered around the upper terrace of the building, wondering why she felt compelled to navigate this way. Her confusion was answered with an enlightening sight of a distantly propped landing pad, occupied but currently unattended from her point of view. Twisting her head, she could see it angled around to, indeed, a back entrance to the tower she was aligned with minutes earlier.

Focusing on the Force to propel herself, she throttled herself through the air, gliding like a silver kite to the H-shaped personal craft surface. Just seconds before making impact, she tucked her knees into her chest, rolling herself into a tumbling ball before forcing herself to land on the ship's top with a buffet of kinetically displaced air. Having practiced falling as much as jumping on the training course, it was only now did she realize just how large of a leap it was, and how far she's come from the simple training exercise Kyle had her take.

Flipping off the ship, she'd encounter a pair of human mercs, whipping out E-11's to stop her. She thrust her hand out, yanking the first one's rifle out of his hand before whipping it back telekinetically straight into the mercenary behind's face. The audible clack was near comical as his prat fall onto his back, making the merc do a whiplash double take of the event. Without giving it much thought she surged a hand back and unleashed a Force Push, sending him crying out as he'd be surged out into the near bottomless pit of Coruscant's space between the towers below. The downed man looked unconscious, and Jaden pitied him just enough to leave him where he was, knowing she didn't have all day to play with these hired guns.

Around the corner inside the landing pad adjacent building was a pair of Trandoshans, kneeling behind cover with Repeaters in hand. Before they could peek over to launch a flurry of energy spheres her way, she employed a burst of Speed to jettison past the first one to her right and lariat him across the rising face. Landing with a meaty crunch, the lizard-humanoid skidded in a gurgling snarl, leaving her to whip out her DL-44 to fire a few placed shots to the other's confused face that downed him. As the prior one rose up to strike, she ignited her lightsaber and cut him diagonally across the chest, leaving him to fall over in a gargled shriek.

"For a small time gangster, you certainly have enough money to hire goons, Racto," She spoke lowly to herself, walking up to a narrow elevator plate, soon clicking the pressure pad beneath to signal an occupant awaiting motion. Rising up in a nauseatingly breakneck speed, she reached the top and exited, finding herself in a pillar arranged balcony place that was angled towards the direction she needed to go. Walking around the bend, she heard a Trandoshan snarl something in its native tongue before bursting automatic fire of its Repeater at her.

"Do me the decency of speaking Basic before attempting to murder me, _Duracrete Slug!_ " Jaden cried out indignantly as she deflected the horde of Repeater shots. Thrusting her palm to send it tumbling off the pillar space it was huddled by, it'd soon shriek out with horror as it'd fall to its inevitable death. She'd deal with a handful of other mercenaries in this fashion, using Push and Pull to help levy the difficulty of fighting them without cover or range to use her untouched weapons on her person.

The path was wrought with hired guns of this manner, mostly populated by aliens than the usual uniformed humans she was used to seeing. From the leathery faced, dreadlock-hair Weequays to the big-eyed, bug-faced Rodians, the three-eyed, equine-visage Gran and the reptilian, red-eyed predatory Trandoshans they were all huddled in pairs to trios with heavy arms for any common mercenary. Even as she passed each group she made quick work, alternating her forms to match the situation and using her Core based abilities along with Protection and some sparse Healing.

At the end of a particular path wrought with holo-advertisements of various imagery, text and colors, she saw one of the infamous assassin droids reportedly sold on the black market. It was broad shouldered, with oblong shaped arms and legs, with an angled optic cable producing its sole eye that homed in on her approach. Wielding an E-11, it fired accurate singing bolts, though its rate was easy for her to deflect from her saber as she crossed the threshold. Each time she reflected a shot its way, she saw it spark up with a field of contorting volts, soon spreading out into an electrical bubble-like field that acted as a defense mechanism.

Any time it shut off its force field, it'd fire its shots again, each one being specifically marked to hit her in a means to deal deadly injury. The pattern was one that was of tedium, whittling down its power supply on the internal-built shields till the armor took a beating with scorching marks and exposed frying circuitry. When one struck its optic cable, it was left to fire at random, allowing her to close the distance with a Force guided throw of her saber, lopping off its arms and legs with a well executed dance of her laser sword before it returned to her hand.

"This may be the dullest opponent I've ever fought," The Echani teenager noted to herself, though was intrigued by its force field circuitry. Deciding against salvaging parts, she figured she'd get the time to acquire some later once she stopped their manufacturing.

Pushing onward, she found yet another distant landing pad with its own craft occupying its space. Executing another beautiful glide downward, she'd somersault off it into a roll, standing up to face a three way wall of portable force fields. She almost laughed at seeing the obstacles, taking a sprinting leap over each one, outright ignoring the mercs taking pot shots at her by the second field's set-up. Once out of their range, she dealt with the second assassin droid by simply Forcing it off with a telekinetic thrust strong enough its stabilizer gyros couldn't hold itself onto the ledge it was hiding behind.

After passing a few more upper balcony pathways of buildings she got the distinct impression she was getting closer. The slew of goons helped confirm it, cutting them down and handily besting them as she went along. She now understood why Kyle considered this to be an easy event, if only due to her improved prowess in all aspects of her skill as a Jedi. Walking across the edge of a divider from one building to the next, she landed next to the massive identical door leading to the opposite side of Racto's office.

"Well," She began to say to herself, passing through the doorway without any sign of mercenary interference. "That was easy."

"It's a Jedi!"

"We'll deal with her!"

"Ah Holo-dust!" She finished exclaiming, seeing a pair of figures flank an X-shaped support beam within the teal-lit chamber she just entered. Strangely enough, one of them was wearing a differently colored set of robes from his orange-red-brown trappings of his colleague. The Force warped acolytes approached her together, one igniting a hissing blade of red light while the other extended weapon-less hands in a Force wave at her.

"Ngh!" Jaden braced herself, with a raised arm, rooting the soles of her body like anchors to keep from being flung so easily. The other acolyte tossed his saber her way, causing her to cross her weapon around to deflect it with a sparking crackle. Once it hovered back towards his grip, she challenged his hold over it with a thrust of her hand. This surprised him, as he quickly lost his hold over the weapon, allowing her to toss it straight at the dark green robed comrade of his.

"You'll have to do better!" The targeted cultist guffawed, leaping straight upward towards the ceiling, as if he was weightless and completely evading the flung blade. Aiming his hands to channel Dark Side energy, he failed to foresee Jaden's ploy as she harnessed her own Force energy and thrust it straight at him; smashing him with a crack against the very nearby ceiling.

"You can never defeat us!" The saber wielder announced challengingly, returning the saber back in hand and rushing up in a forward flip to slash down at her. Stepping to the side as his crimson weapon scorched the flooring, she swung around two-handed in Shii-Cho to Makashi in several arcs of blade against blade gliding against her opponent. By the time his emerald robed counterpart had picked himself off the floor, she dialed the saber's length in mid-stroke, forcing him off balance before elongating it to bisect him from the shoulders across, severing him in maimed halves.

"The Master will destroy you!" The emerald robed acolyte cried out, unleashing a torrent of Force lightning, a re-imagining of the same Dark Side power she had harnessed in murdering Rax. She almost felt herself freeze at the sight, the memory still vivid of what she had unleashed. Had it not been for the man's cry she would've been unable to defend herself against the sorcerous power aiming for her body.

Raising her blade, she found its peerless snow colored glow absorbed its currents, nullifying it deep within the crystal of her leather wrapped hilt. It thrummed beneath her palms, focusing her back to the task at hand and shoving the memory aside. Grimacing, she pushed past the storm of crackling light, the snapping tendrils hissing in the air and threatening to stab at her white tunic covered flesh. Walking slowly forward, the acolyte snarled out, doing his best to use what power he had to crush his foe.

Tried as he might, he felt the lightning leave his hands and soon felt himself drained of stamina. Dropping to one knee and a palm, the other resting on the other knee, he let loose deep haggard breaths. Looking up, shakily raised a hand, distantly aiming to call upon his slain comrade's saber. Just as the cylinder of metal shook from the dead hand it was in, he'd find himself mortified as it was bifurcated in mid-launch, its pieced clanging uselessly in smoldering halves by a single horizontal slash.

"Praise Ragnos!" He snarled, lunging at her with a roar at her. "Death to the J-!"

Cutting him across the middle, Jaden watched him fall lifelessly to the ground, his body left to bleed out on the metal plated flooring.

Looking away from the two, she left the acolytes where they fell, passing by the X-shaped support beams to another massive door embroidered in golden-tinted framing and platinum faced. Walking up to it, she felt it whoosh up and allow her into a much more spacious elevator. After the pressure pad detected her entry, she felt herself carried up in a brisk yet easily acceptable pace to the expected office.

Once the door opened, the platinum-haired woman exited into a massive office, filled with paraphernilia painting him as a supporter of the Cult thoroughly. Force sensitive Vorrskr heads were mounted along the walls, artifacts ascribed to the Jedi Order in glass casings in white painted pedestals and a bust of what she could only assume as Marka Ragnos stood in a tall column, similar to the myriad of designer black, golden outlined octagonal shapes patterned around the room. Racto himself was situated in the room's middle, able to see streaks of air traffic from windows dozens of meters away.

Seeing her enter the room, he stood up, looking furious as much as surprised of her presence.

"How did you get in here?!" He shouted with hand pounding indignation, his desk rattling from the force of his gloved fists' impact.

"I came in the back door," Jaden replied mirthfully, her humming lightsaber passively casting a complementary halo of silver over her white adorned person. "You honestly didn't need to make it this difficult, Racto."

"You think getting in here was difficult?" The gangster asked incredulously, pressing a few buttons along the edge of his desk. "I'll show you a real challenge you won't walk away from, Jedi!"

Immediately, a blast shielding came from the ceiling, surrounding him in a square shaped panic-room space. Simultaneously in sync with the shutting of him to the outside air of his office was a door to Jaden's immediate right, hidden within the seams, revealing half a dozen of the same assassin droids she faced. Standing in attention they all homed in from their angular optics at her, their shields overlapping one another with E-11's aimed at the ready.

A cacophony of blaster bolts sang out, forcing her to deflect and cartwheel around the precise aiming of the droids, forcing them to clamber around with haste to land an appropriate hit from any angle. Splitting them from each other allowed her to thrash them with timely uses of the Force, shoving them into the erect octagon pillars, smashing them to pieces and damaging the droids in the process. Each time the mechanical drones attempted to hit one, she'd reflect off to the other, forcing them into their shielded phases.

They were easily predictable thanks to her Jedi senses, feeling the whirs of gears and the swift processing volts deep within their circuitry even from this position. Anticipating their movements like reading someone's body language, she began to avoid being shot all-together, maneuvering around to slash several strokes of her lightsaber before their bubble-shock fields would be activated. Cutting one's arm off before lopping its leg, she'd send one toppling down and another beheaded.

As the final one went down, she took a few measured breaths as the safety shielding was whooshed back up. Her saber defused, she walked up quietly behind him as his back was to the desk, his seat turned with hands erect in a foolishly confident pyramid form for his fingers. With a brash smile affixed on his bearded face, he growled out with lingering anger in his voice.

"That'll teach a Jedi to-"

A snap hiss later, and the saber purrs to life just inches away from his neck. With a hand clasping his shoulder firmly on the other side, Jaden glided over to his fear-stricken face, now clearly at a loss for words. Silvery eyes glared hotly at him, held back only through the peace of completion of all obstacles that held back the froth of anger bubbling beneath the surface.

"Now, let's talk about these assassin droids," She growled out, her saber humming dangerously close to the man as he looked at her with alarmed understanding.

"U-Uh...o-ok," He lamely agreed, eyes veering towards the light of her weapon with obvious trepidation.

"Where is your factory?" Jaden bluntly inquired, not wanting to waste anymore time with this man.

"Hidden on Nar Shadda," Racto explained, gesturing slowly from his right side. "If you don't hurt me, I'll tell you where it is."

"Good man," She falsely complimented, defusing her blade but still kept it in her tight grip. She knew he noticed that, so he made no sudden moves as he reached slowly towards a datapad of his, no doubt his personal log of all comings and goings business related. Turning to say something, she grabbed him by the shoulder and wrenched him from his seat with her saber still in hand, her voice letting him know there was no escaping this fate.

"You're coming with me."

* * *

 **A/N** : And that's another wrap! Jaden's got baggage to deal with, thanks to Rosh's absence and her turmoil enhanced by her sudden dip into the Dark Side through murdering Rax Joris. I enjoyed Kyle's interrogation a little too much, and I honestly almost made it a bit longer, but the sight of a Briar Pistol's priming charge would probably make anyone want to spill their guts. Exploring Jaden's attunement to the Force as she's getting stronger was another thing I loved describing, as if gaining some kind of metaphysical transcendance as her abilities continue to push her mind, body and spirit to heights she never even imagined feeling as a child.

With Racto arrested, Jaden's temptation to visit her old friend is subdued by the obligation of her duty, and thus will have to wait for another time. The next mission in a way also ties to Jaden's commitment to protecting others and stopping the Remnant from carrying out their despicable acts both in the present and potential future. That's right, we get to see our good ol' friend, Wedge Antilles!

See you all in the next update!


	15. Chapter 15 - A Cooperative Strike

Jaden was ever-so grateful the NRIS (New Republic Intelligence Service) took Lannik Racto off her hands once she made the call. They deployed a ship that strafed near her landing pad as she kept guard. From there, they thanked her service and took him into official custody to ensure the location and eradication of his personally owned factory.

In a way this was her first time interacting with the Republic on an official basis, as a representative of the Jedi Order no less. It was strangely pleasant to see the new establishment had appreciation for her services, even if it was an obligatory thanks she was given by the NRIS agents. Before they left, however, they assured her if they had future Republic missions, they'd ensure to call her first before anybody else.

That made her especially nervous.

Taking down hired thugs and assassin droids was one thing, but she didn't know if she was ready to solo entire Imperial regiments on their behalf. After all, she preferred to use stealth and guile to intercept enemy encampments whenever she could. It was far better in her mind to play it safe rather than foolishly rush into an army of armed soldiers, eager to gun her down the moment she made a slip-up.

Regardless, she departed and made dutiful calls to her more immediate masters.

Kyle, was unavailable, much to her dismay. She wanted to hear back from him soon and perhaps hear an update on his current mission to find their mutual acquaintance. She had to remind herself this was a tenuous path he was walking and only someone of his reputable skill could pull it off. Not wanting to risk compromising him, she turned to Master Skywalker.

This time, she got an answer, though it was through the intercomm rather than the holo-comm.

"Jaden. It's good to hear from you. How did your mission involving Racto on Coruscant go?"

"More smoothly than I thought," She confessed, making an unseen gesture as she sighed. "The mercenaries were sloppy in their placement, making it easy to get through their defensive perimeter. The assassin droids are dangerous but basic Jedi training made them easy to handle. I ran into a new kind of acolyte, though, but the pair's teamwork didn't make him as effective as they planned."

"It does seem you're definitely coming into your own. Great work," He complimented, though left himself pausing after the fact. She could tell something was wrong on his end, and it wasn't an immediate danger but what he had discovered.

"What is it?" She finally asked.

"I've just finished my search on Dagobah. I couldn't find a trace of the Cult...or the Force energy surrounding a particular cave I once entered," He admitted, sounding audibly frustrated over her cockpit's intercomm. "They must have found what they were looking for and left quickly, knowing I might have been on their tail."

"They're quick for a bunch of crazy cultists, that's for sure," Jaden commented, furrowing her brows as she idled her vessel out into the vacuum of space, away from Coruscant's air traffic and sparkling city lights. "I can't help but wonder just how much of an Imperial backing they have. On top of that, they seem to have a knack for being prepared for our arrival, sometimes more so than others. I wonder if there's really a traitor in the Republic."

"We'll find out in time if there's truth behind that. But for now, you should leave that kind of thinking to those of the Republic leadership," The Grandmaster instructed her, his voice coming across as more soothing than stern. "Just get some rest. Something tells me from your stellar record, you're going to be called upon sooner than you think."

"I...can't wait," She drawled out with an exasperated sigh.

"Stay strong, Jaden. I know you can do it," He encouraged her, ending the transmission after that.

"I was worried you'd say that," The platinum haired, silver-eyed woman muttered as she kicked in the hyperdrive, blasting back into the sea of blue-white homeward bound.

* * *

 **Mission Briefing** : This is a priority transmission sent to you, Jaden Korr. A recently discovered Imperial Remnant gas platform on the planet Kril'Dor, mining the valuable tibanna within the planet's atmosphere to fuel the Cult's widespread terrorist attacks and Force locations' thefts. Wedge Antilles, a highly decorated leader and pilot within the New Republic fleet, has proposed a bold plan of attack. While he provides bombardment and aerial support, you will provide ground related tasks in setting up targeting beacons at key points throughout the platform. Work fast and efficient, you both will be out of there before you know it.

* * *

Jaden had barely gotten more than half a day back at the Academy to do her usual routine before C4P4 returned for her next assignment. It was thanks to her connections formed with NRIS that they deemed her appropriate for the task; that and a recommendation by Master Skywalker. Begrudgingly, she geared up for her mission and expected the absolute worst this time. If from what the briefing was to go by, this was an absolute blazer that she was forced to blitz to keep up with a legend of the Alliance like Antilles.

She'd rendezvous with him after a few hour hyperspace flight, only giving her enough time to go over the steps of their plan and what they knew about the complex from intelligence reports. Thankfully, they had relied on secrecy and discretion of their station within the planet's most clouded altitude. Had it not been for the amplified tension widespread across the galaxy, the NRIS wouldn't have thought to check for the abnormal energy signatures within the planet's dense tibanna clouds.

Dressed in her high collared leather sleeved coat and similar dark dyed slacks, she brought new favored additions to her arsenal. Apart from her Bowcaster she also brought along the Fletchette Launcher, now stockpiled at the Academy albeit in less than desirable numbers in the Jedi Armory. Adding a bandoleer of thermal detonators with her DL-44 blaster pistol, she felt confident she was as armed as she desired to be. Steeling herself, she exited hyperspace after the bleep and beeps sounded in the cockpit, finding her ZL-Headhunter flanking Wedge's X-Wing.

"Nice timing, Jaden," A surprisingly vigorous sounding voice spoke over the intercomm to her cockpit. "Luke's spoke highly of you. I look forward to working with you in this operation."

"Let's just hope we can finish this as quickly as you make it out to be," She remarked in a cautious tone, her eyes peering at the outwardly green gas giant. Swirling clouds maneuvered with the wind of the largely chemical based world, letting her believe that there would be no crash landing as much as an explosion in a possibly unstable environment. Her hands gripped the stick and angled her ship to be horizontal line with Wedge, doing her best to be at the same longitude and velocity he was maneuvering in.

"There it is," He intoned in a level-headed observation. It was but thirty seconds before she'd be able to see it herself. Past the horizon of the upper atmosphere, the chemical solutions changed hue drastically into that of a neutral, mustard yellow that flowed in large collections of clouds and other pockets within the endless skyline. Behind a particularly dense circle of tibanna they were able to see the structure, floating within the highest atmosphere permissible for a manned station such as this. "Looks lightly defended, I don't think they were expecting us this time."

"For once, I'm thankful for that," Jaden admitted with an audible sigh.

"Alright, you know the plan," Wedge stated rather than asked, reciting it much to the Echani-blooded woman's favor as it was his own. "You place target beacons on the locations so I can get precise with my bombardment, to keep this platform intact for us to come back in force for later. Once you put them down, make sure to get out of there fast, cause I'll be coming in hot, lasers blasting."

"Understood," She acknowledged, landing her Headhunter on a platform right outside of what she assumed was a closed hangar. The grey matte buildings were all rectangular, square and what towers existed were spire in shape and seem to be wholly contrasting to the gas world it presided within. She doubt anybody would like working here, be they Remnant or Republic, in her opinion.

"Start with the Shield Generator," He insisted with a tinge of urgency. "Otherwise this will be a short mission."

Pulling out her Fletchette launcher, she took a deep breath in and moved through the automatic hangar door. The suspended TIE fighters hung just out of reach of her head, allowing her to make a beeline sprint from one end of the massive space to the other. Stormtroopers ran over to inspect who was coming in, only for the first two within range to be shredded by a pair of squeezes to her trigger.

" **INTRUDER! SOUND THE-AGH!** " Another trooper tried to cry out, instead was struck by a grenade fragmentation of the molten flechettes she unleashed from her shotgun.

Maneuvering over to an elevator, she took it up and quickly disposed of the other grunts that barred her path. There she exited onto a suspended ramp, circling around a turbolaser placement that currently appeared to be inactive. The troopers that swung around attempted to cut her off, firing at her in a rapid cracking crescendo of their weapons. To their surprise she swerved and dodged their shots without drawing her prized laser sword, instead continually firing more flechettes that mauled through their armor in flaming bits of plasteel and blood.

Catching sight of the shield generator, she made a gliding leap forward, landing onto the adjoined roofing of one structure and ran towards her destination. Much to her chagrin, a new kind of stormtrooper emerged just behind the target's backside. Offering a much more durable amount of refined plasteel it roared over her direction, laying down a stream of Repeater fire while its jetpack ensured it kept out of reach of her short ranged weapon. Narrowly diving to the side to avoid its strafing fire, she exchange one weapon for the other, whipping out her Bowcaster and took up a charged shot.

"AAAGH!" The jettrooper cried out as twisting chakrams of emerald energy tore through his armor, causing him to careen down onto the platform with a crunch, sliding off into the dense clouds far below without another sound made.

"Great, just what I needed them to do: Fly," She huffed, turning back to the shield generator to take a knee-high target beacon from the back she slung over her back. After a few clicks and whir of power, the little dish spun, indicating it was at work. Before she could even get out a reply to him, she heard his warning as his X-Wing dodged Anti-Air fire from the platform itself.

Running pell mell from where she once stood, a loud bang followed a shuddering as the top partition of the generator was detonated by a well placed proton torpedo. Looking out from the corner of the turbolaser she used for cover, she saw with satisfaction that it was rendered inert without any significant damage to its overall superstructure.

"Alright, first one down," Wedge proclaimed with enthusiasm, not skipping a beat in telling her next objective. "Next, put a beacon on the hangar, so they can't scramble air support."

"Good thinking," She complimented, making a quick dashing slide to the center of the massive rectangular structure's roofing. After placing the beacon down, she made another rush to leap off the building's surface, making the zooming outline of Wedge's X-Wing before a thunderous explosion made evident he succeeded in his bombing run. Grinning at the chaos surrounding him, she was glad for once _they_ were on the offensive instead of the other way around.

"Head for their Garrison! That'll weaken their resistance!"

"And keep them from mounting a larger counterattack," She added, already making a series of rapid jumps from the walkway platforms, landing atop what looked like large cabled lines that divided the presumed housing of the majority of personnel here. Without hesitation she grasped the beacon, set down the specifics and left the moment it whirred to life. Their teamwork was a flawless combination of speed and skilled coordination, something she was thankful for doing.

A momentary flash of light and shuddering of destruction behind her, Wedge cried out with boastful cheer, "This is too easy!"

After witnessing the blast, she was eager to keep on the momentum, not wanting to waste a single instant they had that was on their side, "Great! What's next!"

"Yeah, take out their communications array, so they can't call for help."

"Wish that was target one," She complained, now making a swift run to the lower levels, making sure to slow her fall with the Force and land in an acceptable crouch on the metal grating of the runway.

There she was greeted by a slew of panicked ensemble of white armored resistance. From Flechettes, to Repeaters and E-11's, they all began to fire on their own whim with no order among their ranks; even their beige uniformed officers shot at will, unable to cope with the timing of the pair's assault on their complex.

She unleashed a horde of flechettes as she passed them by, strafing around their assault with the anticipation of repetitive firefights she's had up until this point. Letting the Force move her body in a way of the wind twisting around obstacles and danger, she danced around their position, wielding her large barreled weapon not like a bandit but an extension of her lethal intent. White plating was scorched, torn asunder and crunched under the force of her gun's repeated blasts, not a single squeeze of the trigger wasted unlike her host of enemies.

Despite passing through their band of barely cobbled guards, she made it to the communication's array and utilized its elevator to reach its top. Once at the ringed platform, she exchanged fire with another pair of jettroopers, deciding not to waste time and place the beacon just out of their sight. Once it began to whir, she Sped past them in a blur, leaving them to take Wedge's anticipated bombing run and annihilate them in column of white-ball of flames that destroyed the building's dish and their bodies.

"Get to the power generator, that way we can take out those turbolasers!"

"Huh, they don't got any stairs there," She noted, seeing that access had been deliberately cut off. Even as she ran to the doorway leading to the lower level spire of the platform's tower, it was inactive and unable to open. Peering over the ledge, she grimaced, seeing it was quite a distance. Huffing, she gathered herself before leaping off, gliding down before Pushing the air around her to soften her fall. From there, she managed to get to an elevator, taking it down to the appropriate level.

Meeting minimal resistance here, she knocked the troopers off the ringed walkway and placed the target beacon where it belonged. Taking the elevator back up quickly, she was just in time to see Wedge expertly veer his craft out of the large arches of lime-coated plasma attempting to rend his craft into molten bits. In a barrel roll for style, he let loose the torpedo at the key power juncture, effectively ending the firing of the giant platform's gun placements.

"Alright, last we got the Command Center," He intoned with a level of enthusiasm nearly matched by his prowess of piloting. "Once you get inside, place one in there and we can get out of here."

"We may have a slight problem with that," She informed him, taking care to unleash a cacophony of Bowcaster bolts at some grounded Jettroopers that attempted to stall her progress.

"What do you mean?"

Taking time to dispose of a dozen more troopers along the way, Jaden lied just outside of the aforementioned headquarters of the whole base. Placing her hand on its surface, she closed her eyes and opened her mental connection to her Force Sense. There she felt as much as saw the running currents of power, still prioritized within the upper level. Seeing through the walls, the cameras and feeling the beating hearts or intent of the living beings within, she began to explain what she could see to the skilled pilot.

"It's got a heavy amount of security inside. Four turrets aimed at all angles, several field officers, four stormtroopers and one acolyte," She informed her current partner, her hand sliding across the solid metal wall as her head bent and turned, as if she was changing perspectives of where she saw all of the main room from remote. "That is the last place of significant fortification left in this place so it's going to be a hassle to fight them all, especially in such a cramped space."

"What do you think?" Wedge asked with curiosity.

"I can do it, but I'll need to take advantage of my initial entry. I can't waste a single moment of fighting, otherwise I might get cut down by crossfire," She cautiously stated, whipping out the last of the target beacons in hand instead of a weapon. Walking into the hub's first floor, she took a deep breath and centered herself before pressing her feet on the elevator's pressure sensor. "But I can do it. It'll just take me five seconds."

"On your mark," The Republic Pilot seriously stated aloud. "Ready when you are."

Whooshing up, the door opened in an instant, allowing her to make a breath release and her body to Speed ahead.

"Mark!" She cried out, skidding to the center on her knees before activating the Beacon. The turrets angled towards her, the acolyte igniting his lightsaber, and the troopers with their officers all primed their weapons. Without even hesitating, she looked towards the far plate-enforced window, gathering the Force around her body into a pulsing emerald barrier. Crying out as the last few seconds escaped her grasp, she throttled into the command center's far metal barricade, surprising them as their shots missed by milliseconds and her frame tore through the metal framing to get out of their proximity.

Landing in a tumbling roll down on the gated walkway below just as a harrowing cry of all those inside from Wedge's timed proton torpedo blast. With the upper story of the structure detonated, it gave Jaden a brief amount of respite. Despite cushioning her fall she felt bruises all along her arms and legs from taking the brunt of the blast shield. It was an insane plan, and she could've escaped back through the elevator if she wanted, but her impulse compelled her to take the risk.

"Nice work, Jaden. Pretty ballsy move at the end," Wedge complimented in a mirthful tone.

"Going to try and not do a repeat of that," She winced, rising back up with a grimace as she began to walk gingerly away from the main building of the outpost. "Yeah, go ahead and get back to your ship. The New Republic will take care of what's left of this place. The Remnant and Cult won't be using this place to fuel their army anytime soon."

"Yay me," She congratulated weakly, only wishing for the sweet release of returning back to the comfort of her Academy. She had all but forgone the use of a lightsaber this mission and while it did save time, she paid for it in the expenditure of Force energy. The last stunt especially battered her body, and she paid the price for it. She wondered just how much Kyle would lecture her or praise her for such an innovative but risky maneuver it was.

Strapping back into her Headhunter, she took off from the platform and left with Wedge back into the outer reaches of space. Making her usual reports in with Master Skywalker and Kyle, she got nothing but message systems. Taking the several hours to recoup, she'd not realize that she was already due for another impromptu mission.

One that'd lead her straight to where she needed to be.

* * *

 **A/N** : Not my most stellar chapter, that's for sure. I felt I may have rushed this mission a bit, but the last remaining bits of this Part of the game's plot isn't especially a 'thrilling' pair of chapters to tell. It's just, "Go here to press that button," or "Go here and put that beacon down," rinse and repeat. Nothing wrong with that for a game when you got minions galore to chop down (and a Rancor in one particular mission) but I think we're all anticipating for the inevitable game changer for this story.

Next Chapter, we're going to Vjun, and man we're going to have a blast with that one. It might end up being a multi-parter depending on how it branches out. Kyle will be able to flex and Jaden will be up against some truly intimidating obstacles and foes. It's all uphill from here folks, literally and metaphorically.

See you in the next update!


	16. Chapter 16 - A Disturbance

Jaden had longed for her bed the moment she returned to the Academy. She had no other thoughts but for the relief her private abode had. The rush of her mission with Antilles had exhausted her, and the injuries she sustained required her to use what energy she hadn't wasted in a duel with an acolyte to revitalize herself. Once back at the temple, it was once again nightfall and the moon cast its gleam over the ancient stone structure.

Passing by the graveyard shift of personnel wandering the Academy's grounds, from C4P4 making his necessary rounds and her astromech R9 taking a stroll to the maintenance area, she staggered back to her own room. It only dawned on her just how quiet her room had become since Rosh's disappearance, and the call to action the Academy's learning body had deployed to the four corners of the known galaxy. She wished to return to those days where she instructed her friend on crafting his weapon, the crowd of her fellow students inhabiting her space and bringing her something to talk about or learn from their own exploits.

Opening the door, it was dark and littered with scrap, like she had last left it. She stubbed her toe on a bolt and stepped on some awkward lying plating. Grimacing she had half a mind to clean the room had it not been for her desire to keep things as they were. Her inclination to take action was only suppressed in favor of getting into her tent-erect bed. Sliding through the open side, she pushed aside the tinkered bits and pieces of ongoing projects.

All she wanted was rest. With her head lying on the cushion, her tired eyes soon closed and the sound of her breathing was all she could imagine. The beat of her heart, echoing in the back of her hearing and the rustling of clutter around her person. The coolness of the air swirling around her ventilated hold and the wisps of mist flowing through the hanging shafts above her head.

But, as she heard the beats of her heart, something else was sounded in the back of her mind. They were rapid, like the tempo of a drum, and full of heat of intensity about them. The damp moist air of the jungle moon was different on her skin, changing to that of a cold, stinging heat of something like dripping acid. Grimacing, her waking self stirred while her eyes opened and saw something she didn't expect.

 _She was no longer on Yavin IV._

 _Thinking to see where she was the Echani teenager found she could not move like she thought. Low, instead her vision tracked with that of another's, opening sluggishly to stare up a dark sky, rumbling and crackling with ominous flashes of violet-white. The air around was an unnatural cold and it emanated along the skin she currently wore, while a distinct burning of acid continued to peter across it; yet the burning flames of a foreign intensity kept it from harming the frigid flesh enduring it._

 _Everything wreaked of a noxious, burning ozone scent, full of the tangible odors one could expect of spilled chemicals all around. Yet the igneous rock had long since adapted to this fierce climate shift, and the visibly barren wasteland of mountainous environment held cliff-bordered rivers of magma, stirred along the bottom from the tall height she could see. The feet she walked with was a slow deliberate one, focused on taking them independently while soaking in this dreaded atmosphere and filling up with this burning heat from the inside that not only preserved herself from the acid rain pelting her icy skin, but thrived within her pumping veins._

 _"Are you coming?!" A deep snarl came from up ahead, where the walkway ushered her movement towards an ominous encroaching castle. It was an immense structure of imposing black hue, made to resemble something the mast of an ancient ship, built in to the rising peak of an igneous formed mountain from below. Surrounded by the thick rising fumes of volcanic activity, the sheets of emerald rain and cracks of perpetual violet lightning flashing all around, it felt like the dark fortress out of nightmares._

 _Worst still, she could feel something wholly twisted about this place. As if the world she now inhabited was a dark, cold and acidic weathered plane that possessed rivers of magma and soil of hardened onyx stone, the superstructure she tread had an indescribable hollow sensation. Like a great hole within the Force presided here, constantly unleashing this sense of meaningless dread and despair. There was nothing here but a sadness that coiled by this world's passive hatred, and the damning effects the Dark Side had on this planet's ecosystem._

 _"I said, are you coming?!" The bellowing snarl came at her direction again, causing her point of view to focus on the source. If she could, she'd take a step back but the body she was connected to did not. Instead it did as it was told, obediently following. It was unmistakably the burly, deep red man whom was only a few feet away from what looked like a twin. A swirling hatred connected the two, passive and controlled, like shackled beasts with a tamed understanding of their limitations of what they're allowed to do and what they wished to do beyond their chains._

 _"I was taking in the view. Quite breathtaking, wouldn't you say?" A voice not her own escaped her throat, eerily forcing her lips to move as she spoke back._

 _"Don't forget your task here, new blood!" A meaty finger jabbed into her chest, causing her to look down at the hand that could easily grab her head and completely close over it. But as she looked down, the familiar trappings of something akin to an Acolyte's robes made her agape inside, startled at the implications she was sharing a consciousness with someone of the enemy. Still, the chance to spy on the other side was not her choice but it was something she knew could be invaluable to her._

 _Without realizing what was going on, her left covered hand reached up -swathed in red-black robes like the rest of her body- grabbed his finger and with an unsuspecting power began to twist it around till it snapped. She'd be more mortified if she could feel it, but her body was nothing but a passive burning flame beneath a shell of cool metal. All she could do was spectate as her voice automatically spoke at a now howling brother step back, while the other stomped around looking infuriated at the action._

 _"Do not mistake your place here, Vil and Dasariah Kothos," She said, again in a recognizable yet unknown voice of a threatening smooth cadence. "The Master chose me, after all. You are merely here to expedite the process and to lay your lives down for our cause's sake should something go awry. The Jedi are bound to come here, after all. Eventually."_

 _"What makes you think you can treat us with such candor, whelp?!" The latter, uninjured brother -Dasariah- imposingly strutted up towards him._

 _She felt her eyes narrow into a scowl and suddenly an unmistakable surge of cold energy ignited from her right hand. Dasariah was sent flying across the suspended platform connecting the two towers of the magma river powered superstructure. He slammed into the door frame leading to the next building, causing Vil to look over in horror. He was pinned, gritting his teeth and unable to will himself to even look properly in her direction._

 _"_ This _is_ why _," She intoned, her hand still outstretched and the sensation of a burning fever within the veins of her ice cold hand made her both in awe and mortified at the spectacle of callous cruelty. "The Master has use of you two because of your latent talents and your peculiar bond shared between yourselves. That is the only reason why you are not disposed of. I will take my own time to walk into this sacred place; this temple of worship to the Dark Side. Do not test me again."_

 _Releasing the intangible hold over Dasariah, she watched Vil crack his finger back in place and restoring it back to normal as if it didn't happen. The thrashed twin too also rolled dislocated shoulders back into socket and wiped away leaking fluids coming from his nostrils and mouth. Looking up, the drenched pair regarded him with barely concealed discontent and malice before finally turning away. Even though they didn't respond, apparently her current host thought it was enough._

 _Turning to fully visualize the castle in its ascending dark splendor, she felt her hand reach back to grab hold of a large pole handle of something even colder than her own frostbitten skin. Brandishing it for her own sight, aiming it towards the castle, she felt and saw the spear-like staff she had saw at one instant before she was nearly drowned in darkness. The poison that had sought to corrupt her was filled with a near bottomless reservoir, holding energies the likes of which didn't even compare to what she had withstood over a month ago._

 _This scepter was old, even by a mere look she could tell. The acid rain did little to erode its antiquated make, simply rolling off its stony exterior before hissing downward onto the metal plating below. She couldn't tell if she was looking at this weapon -this dark scepter- with melancholy or delight, the cauldron of emotions was hard to perceive with such an enigma of heat and cold wrapping around her skin and piercing her heart._

 _In a flash of lightning that opaqued her whole outline, and snapped but inches away from her face, she awakened._

"H-Haugh! A-Aulk!" She hoarsely cried out, sitting upright in an instant and heaving heavily with her heart pounding behind her chest. Her skin felt cold and clammy from sweat, her eyes dilating in place. Raising her hands up to confirm they were hers, she slapped them against her face, ensuring she felt the pain and was wholly awake.

Was it all a dream? Part of her wished it to be, but it had felt so tangible and so real. It was she was walking in someone else's body and experienced what it did. The whole of her embroiled sensation of feeling cold on the outside yet so hot inside wasn't so dissimilar to how her rage ignited in killing Rax. But it was such a brief moment she barely captured the taste of it and didn't sit in it for too long.

"Was this a vision of the future, or was this happening right now?" She muttered to herself, wondering what to make of it.

An urgent knock bounced off the surface of her door, shaking her out of her reverie. Shakily she got out of bed, hunched over as she walked with shuffles through the scrap littering her room. When she got to the panel, she opened it with a sliding motion, allowing her to see her old bearded teacher on the other side.

"K-Kyle!" She stumbled back, falling onto her butt in a loud crash.

"Haha, sorry, Jaden," Kyle apologized, laughing with humor as he reached out a gloved hand for her to help her up. Accepting it, he pulled her up, giving her a once over at her disheveled and somewhat sweat drenched person. "You alright? Did I wake you?"

"I-uh," She began to utter, her eyes becoming glazed as she remembered the memory of sharing sensation of another person, far away in a dreadful place. "I don't know how to answer that, actually."

"Well, I won't pry if it isn't important," He shrugged, patting her on the shoulder with a half grin. "But I do have some good news for you."

"Is it Rosh?!" Jaden asked quickly, her eyes brightening with hope and her countenance shifting in favor of looking for something to grasp onto. "Did you find him?"

Raising a hand to placate her, she deflated a bit as he began to explain, "No, but we got another assignment in hopes to stop the Disciples of Ragnos from getting anymore power than they have. Luke assigned us both given the nature of this location. It's kind of a nasty place to be so you better be prepared for some really foul weather and more than likely worse company."

"Where _are_ we going?" She asked.

"Vjun," He muttered, his usually guttural smooth voice ebbing a bit more seriousness in his hand waving description. "It was the home world to Darth Vader's personal castle, a sanctuary for him to no doubt brood and grimace underneath that helmet of his. Luke has history of going there and, well, quite a few dangerous people usually end up going there. If there was a dark, lonely corner of the galaxy, it'd be Vjun; no one in their right mind goes there without being up to something sinister."

Vader's castle? Was that what she saw?

Her mental pondering caught Kyle's attention during his explanation. Stopping himself, he paused as she did, awaiting her to speak up. When she realized she was being looked at, she tried to avert her gaze, much to her teacher's annoyance.

"Jaden, what is it?"

"I-I don't...I don't know," She bit her lower lip, her face still damp from the cold sweat from the horribly real feelings she felt. "I just...I just don't know what happened. But I...I saw something."

"What did you see?" Kyle asked in a surprisingly patient manner, much to her relief.

"I-It was a black castle, built into a mountain like the mast of an old starship," She tried to explain, conjuring the flashes of imagery she saw. Raising her hands, she clenched them oddly, her teeth nearly clattering against one another in disturbed clicks as she stifled fear-filled breaths. Steadying herself, she looked at him in the eyes and then came out with it. "I saw it in my sleep, through someone else's eyes."

He was silent. It was the first time that she ever saw him taken aback by information that legitimately shocked him. She tried to see what he was thinking behind his dark brown eyes but she found she couldn't read his intentions. Much like his presence being a murky fog, his surface thoughts of what she could feel were nothing but a cloud that was too difficult to perceive.

"What else did you see?" He finally questioned again, this time looking a bit more stern and analytical to what she was saying.

"Like I said, I felt like I was in someone else's body when I saw everything," The Echani teenager explained readily, feeling more relieved she could be honest with her teacher. "I felt a coldness across my skin like ice that wasn't natural, the feeling of what should've been stinging rain slough off my clothes and body while inside I felt a constant heat that burned through my veins. I was as one with the dimly lit planet with its magma channels and burning, cold sheets of rainy weather. It was mesmerizing and terrifying all at once as I was trapped inside of this body."

"That sounds too surreal to be precognition," Kyle admitted, stroking his chin with a furrowed brow. "Peering into the future is an uncommon but not altogether unheard of thing among Jedi. There are obvious risks and nothing is ever wholly clear. But what you felt sounded like you were tied to a specific person; like the Force had bound you to this person."

"It doesn't make sense though!" She explained, her eyes wide and her hands waving with indignation. "It was a Cultist! I was wearing the robes of the Disciples of Ragnos!"

"Calm down, Jaden," Her teacher urged her, raising a hand and encouraging her to recede her emotions. As she finally took deep breaths and bit back her words, he proffered a possibility. "Maybe when you were struck by the staff, the one that made you pass out, perhaps you had been linked to someone in the Cult? Something that lies within the heart of their group, or something that is similar to you?"

"That's the other thing," Jaden added, looking to the hand that had at once struck one of the Ragnos followers with such ease, also wielding the artifact she had saw with its eyes. "I remember holding it. That dark scepter of the Dark Side. It felt like it had an endless abyss, filling up with the swirling Force of so many places and planets. I almost felt like I was going to get sucked in myself if the person I shared bodies' with wasn't careful!"

"Then that adds up. Our assignment to Vjun isn't without reason," Kyle proclaimed, a rueful smile spread as he gestured with his arms. "You did give us a heads up, though. The staff is on Vjun and, if we act quickly, we can catch them in the act. Who knows? Maybe we can put an end to their schemes before they reach their endgame?"

"I-I hope you're right," Jaden swallowed, forcing herself to clench her eyes and reopen them with renewed conviction. "Let's stop them. And if they know anything, make them tell us where Rosh is!"

"Definitely," He nodded with agreement, angling his head over his shoulder. "I'll give you a few minutes to change and get ready. I'll be in the hangar with the Raven's Claw when you're ready, okay?"

"Got it!" She nodded vigorously.

Things were too coincidental for her to have a nightmare detailing members of the Cult already on the planet, heading towards the husk of Bast Castle. Who knows just what kind of surprises they'd leave behind for them to deal with? She could only remember the haunting sound of the voice coming from its throat, and how it tinged with nostalgia while so wildly foreign it could be anyone. The heat boiling beneath moist, cold skin made her shiver even as she dressed herself and prepared for the journey to come.

" _It all comes back to that staff,_ " She grimaced, silently proclaiming this within her thoughts. Grasping her saber as she fastened it to her belt, she exited her room and began her hasty run to the hangar. " _That thing should not exist in this world!_ _No matter what, I'll see to it that it is shattered into a million pieces when I'm through with it!_ "

* * *

Vjun.

The planet was once a sanctuary for the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader. From what she had learned it was Luke who did battle and redeemed his soul in the end, thanks in part to his own blood relation and steadfast path in the Jedi Way. Since his demise and the Empire fragmenting into the current form of the Remnant the former fist of the Empire's domain had been left empty, hollow. Devoid of any real use, other users of the Dark Side would take refuge and adopt the castle as their own headquarters a number of times during the infancy of the New Jedi Order's existence. Besting them a number of times at this place, it was supposedly abandoned.

That was the current conjecture, even as they descended into the perpetually storm ridden atmosphere of the planet. Even from this distance in the thick overcast they'd see the black castle wasn't illuminated from within nor did it have any visible exterior guards; not that her eyes could see through the darkness the storm had cloaked the keep in.

But she knew better. Her vision had warned her of those who intended to use this place as their next stop to harvest Force energy. The Dark Side was ripe within this planet, its taint etched into every facet of nature that its hand corrupted. Wildlife mutated into enduring the harshness of the acidic moisture that was prominent over the igneous rock, the only natural soil left in part from rivers of lava that ran near the lowest levels of ground visible. Lightning cracked in a constant cacophony around their heads, flashing violet and blue, a never ending orchestra of the unholy power still prominent within this world; circling closely around the Dark Lord's hold.

"There it is, Bast Castle," Kyle stated grimly, his lips pursed as his eyes peered through the glass of his cockpit's canopy. "I don't see any particular good places to land nearby. We might need to take the long route."

"The long route?!" Jaden echoed with ample alarm. "In the acid rain?!"

"I'm sure we can manage. There's plenty of cover we can use and the Force can shield us long enough for us to reach the outlying outposts linked to the castle's complex," He instructed confidently, already en route to a particular landing pad a few clicks away. "Don't worry, I've been in hostile places like this before. You just need to take your time moving ahead and make sure you don't overexert yourself. Even if they're already here, like you said, their scanning equipment placed here is outdated and they likely won't be able to alert anybody inside until we're already in."

"As long as you take the lead on this," She cautiously agreed, wary about this whole ordeal since she woke up earlier in the day.

The Raven's Claw maneuvered within the heavy rain, its durable shielding unaffected for the time being against the acidic moisture pelting its surface. Once it landed with a gradual thump, the engines powered down and the vessel itself remained in a passive alert state; to better protect itself from any unsuspecting hitchhikers or saboteurs.

Opening the canopy, Kyle and Jaden simultaneously vaulted over each flank of the ship's nose, immediately bracing themselves with flickering viridescent barriers of the Force. The warmth was a stark contrast to the cold exterior she had sensed from the unknown person she spied on from within its body. While her teacher was acting more casual in controlling his Protection, she herself realized a continuous jog using this power would wear her down quicker than she'd like.

"Yeah, someone's definitely home," Kyle noted, gesturing to the landing lights and an outdoor archway leading to shielded partitions of an immediate outpost. "Seems whoever got here before us got the power working again. Whole place is run by a molten generator from the lava rivers bubbling to the surface but the acid-like weather makes maintenance one Hell of a pain."

"You sound like you ran the place," Jaden quipped as she trotted across the moist plating towards the incoming archway.

"Well I did serve here for a spell. All over the place actually," He admitted with a casual jaunt. "I did serve the Empire before I became a mercenary."

"That'd explain your posture," She pointed out with a nod of her barrier protected head. "You seemed unnaturally straight compared to the other masters at the Academy."

"What can I say? The stick never quite left my-"

" **Hey you! Stop right there!** "

The audio projected noise penetrated the ever-present sheets of acid rain before Kyle could make his joke. The pair turned to see a single trooper wearing an enormous bulk of plasteel. Easily twice as tall as Kyle -if not larger- and two times as wide, the thick heavy boots stomped over the soil of the igneous variety up from the bottom of a hill. Gauged from the hissing steps he left behind, they gathered he was walking through the liquid flaming river as a method of patrol and had turned towards them when their ship landed.

"Well I'll be," Kyle replied a bit too casually for her liking as the trooper stomped towards them, towering over them with its gargantuan bulk. "Is this a new trooper? Can't say I find it appealing, what with that waddle you got going for you-"

"KYLE!" Jaden cried out.

"Right-Right," He parroted off, raising his hand up just as the Hazard Trooper hefted up a Concussive Rifle in both hands. Pulling it with a gesture, the trooper was robbed of his weapon, leaving an opening for Jaden to leap up and ignite her lightsaber. Dragging down the peerless blade of light from his head down the front of its chest, she found that she left only a molten groove in its path rather than a clean cut; save for the helmet which she cut straight through into his skull. Falling to his knees it'd slump over with a clanking thud, Kyle now held the large sonic cannon in his arms, grinning over through his pulsing Barrier at Jaden's Protected face. "See? Easy."

"That guy could've blown us back to Yavin IV with that thing!" She exclaimed.

"Keep yourself calm and take things in stride. You'll stay alive a lot longer rather than worrying about things," He placated her as he hefted the weapon over his shoulder and walked casually under the archway.

She tried to do as he said. It was harder to simply cool herself off with alarm, even now. She let loose her concentration on the barrier under the shielding of metal constructed by the Empire ages ago. Even now the effort on calling upon the Force was hampered by the miasma of negative energies swirling around her. The wound the Dark Side had left on this planet could be felt across every pore of her skin, stinging her eyes and itching across her orifices. This place was like a neverending death without end in sight.

"Hey, you still with me?" Kyle turned with concern.

"Y-Yeah," She heaved aloud, visibly sweating across her naturally pale skin. "This place is just getting to me, y-you know?"

"Yeah, it feels nasty," He agreed with a nod. "But don't worry. The Force doesn't always come from the place, but from inside yourself as well. Sappy as that sounds, a Jedi's greatest weapon is their own resolve and spirit of will. Remember that whenever you're in a corner or a dark pit, you'll find your own strength no matter the Hell you've walked into."

"O-Ok," The Platinum haired Apprentice an affirmative shake of her head, smiling despite her discomfort. "I'll do my best!"

"Good," Kyle furrowed his brow as he stared through the complex's artificial lightning of the archway to the rest of the complex. "Because I think we'll need each other if we're to get through this place alive."

* * *

After renewing her vigor, Jaden followed Kyle's lead along the outbound complex. The Remnant presence here was far more dense than she could have anticipated. She didn't know if they had already had a base here in advance and only recently got in touch with the Cult, or if this was just a swift acquisition of an abandoned site. Either way, the pair of them worked in unison to surge through the industrial facility, blasting down troopers and officers that was getting in their way.

The blood colored lighting of the interior only enhanced her anxiousness of her impending confrontation with the Disciples of Ragnos. Even with her teacher at her side she couldn't help but feel an inevitable wrongness that was going to take place. The omen of her dream continued to haunt her, even as she steadied her mind and stabilized her spirit in the face of her enemies.

Exiting out of the latest partition of grey-steel structure she'd spot an encroaching series of TIE Bombers flying in patrols along the last open canyon path to the main complex. Their terrifying roars filled the air, reminding her of the explosive payload they could unleash at any given moment should they be spotted. Thankfully for her, Kyle had spotted a not-so-distant turbolaser mounted nearby on an upraised platform. It possessed a manual control along with its own seating, making it far more manageable than most automatic ones she's seen on platforms or spacecraft.

"I'll give you a boost if you think you can make the jump all the way," He gutturally spoke in a lower volume cautiously.

"Yeah, just give me a little lift and I can make it," She acknowledged.

"Alright. One. Two. Three!" He intoned, enacting his Protective barrier at the same time she did. The pulsing pair of emerald shimmering bodies ran across the distance at their top sprint as the TIE Bombers passed them over head. Once they reached the spot, Jaden skidded on her feet and coiled into a crouch. Summoning what strength she had left, she leaped upwards, feeling an additional throttling Push from below by her master. Gliding up to land in a forward rolling crouch on the metallic slick flooring, she quickly scrambled on all fours to the turbolaser's controls, allowing Kyle to jump the rest of the way and join her out of the degenerative rain for a spell beneath the laser's personal ceiling.

Shortly after, a column of troopers rushed out of a nearby door across the upper storied catwalks, rushing around with weapons in hand. Kyle unleashed a salvo of Concussive bolts at them, reducing their numbers down to shattered pieces, allowing Jaden to take aim at the passing-by bombers. She'd press the trigger and fire a hail of shrieking crimson blasts, tearing through the spacecrafts' curled wings and twin-bulged chassis. Exploding one after the other without the ability to veer away, she wiped out the six patrolling craft thanks to being uninterrupted in her anti-air attack.

Hearing the clank of an emptied Concussive Rifle being tossed aside, she got up from her seat and turned to Kyle grimly smiling at her handiwork. Nodding to the smashed remains of dozens of Stormtroopers littering the walkway and across the face of the other building's entrance, she wryly grinned at how easily he disposed of the Imperial grunts. Without a word exchanged they both engaged Protection of the Force once more and leaped from the upper storied platform, rushing towards the complex's true front entrance.

* * *

Exiting the dank atmosphere from outside, Kyle shuddered as he released his Force barrier with a groan, "Ahhhh, good to be out of that rain. Now we just need to get inside the castle itself."

"Vader sure did a good job keeping people from entering the front door easily," Jaden griped with a snort.

"Yeah, well, nothing is ever easy," He noted, taking a look around the complex's immediate room. Yellow bulb lights were spread across spaced columns that housed unmanned AT-ST's, several of which still stationed on either side of the massive open ceiling of grey and black tinted metal framing. Walking across the emptied space, she followed Kyle's lead as they walked to an obviously locked pair of elevator doors. Growling as he pressed his hand against it, she heard him mutter aloud with a sigh. "Locked down. Ever feel like you're not welcome. Looks like we're going to have to find another way out of this garage."

"How about that?" Jaden turned and pointed towards an open shaft on the opposite corner of the deactivated elevators.

"Oh? What do we have here?" He queried, jogging ahead of her as she followed his lead. Stopping short of the open tube, he stepped back with a gagging wave of the smell that permeated from it. "Must be a garbage chute! Agh, well...nobody said a Jedi's life is glamorous."

With an eye-rolling huff, the Echani Apprentice followed after him, dropping down the distance with a braced impact. Walking towards the center she'd find massive ten plus foot high walls, all compressing with mechanical churns to crush whatever's landed in the middle. Gritting her teeth, she followed Kyle's path of leaping out with an adept throttle of her legs and landing in a forward flipping crouch.

"Well, that was close," Kyle intoned with a low chuckle, turning back to see the large crushing grinds of the trash compactor the facility used. "Guess that's what happens when you use the backdoor. Now, let's see what else we can find."

"Hopefully not more death traps."

"We can only hope~" He whistled out, much to her chagrin. She still couldn't fathom how he could take near death experiences so lightly. Did he not value his own life or was he just that fearless? Or worse, was he just that reckless?

Navigating through a dark passageway, past the rumbling of redundant compression they left, the pair moved into a room that looked to be in disrepair. Pumps lay inactive, a pool of water filling most of the floor likely from pipe ruptures within the annals of the Basilisk Castle. On the far end of the room was a single door that looked to be the only thing leading out of this place.

His gloved hands maneuvered around an electronic panel that was lit up in red. Jaden didn't need to be fluent in Basic to know that the symbols meant that it was restricted. After letting out a deep sigh, the Jedi Master turned to look at his disciple with a long face, "This life is locked down _too_."

"Great," She visibly hung her head.

"Wait," Kyle stopped, his eyes drifting to her right to the left. "Maybe this switch-"

He raised his hand, a gush of wind parting as the Force compelled the switch to pull down. The crank ricocheted back up into its proper place, as if the mechanism for its activation was damaged.

"Oh come on!" He groaned aloud, throwing another Pull of the Force at the mechanism.

This time, Jaden's senses emitted danger. Her eyes saw the sparks that rang up from the misshapen wiring leading up from the switch, leading up to the coursing pylons of power with bands of static green energy in them every few meters. Her silver eyes dilated and her breath hitched, a cascade of power overloads seen tripping before finally one of them exploded, sending the pylon crashing down and aiming to hit the water-

"HNGH!" Kyle threw himself in the path of it, his right hand stopping it just shy of a couple meters. Crackling energy spat from the mauled edge of the pylon, threatening to make connection and course its power through the rest of the water-filled floor. With gritted teeth, Kyle turned around and looked a bit more seriously than before at the stunned Echani. "Listen, this is going to come down and we'll both get fried deep quick. How about looking for a way to drain the water out of here?"

"Uh...okay," She mulled out, looking around the room in a frantic mode of observation. Though her awareness of machines and their overall mechanisms came naturally to her, she needed at least to take it apart to dissect it in its entirety. However, there was no time for that kind of tinkering! She had to go with her gut.

Thankfully, there was specific array of pumps that looked to be the main ones that needed to siphon out the excess water that had leaked inside. Throwing a few timely Force Push she managed to restart the machinery to rhythmic drops and raises of its beige conical devices. The water in the room quickly was siphoned into powered-suction drains, leaving it damp but not enough to send a cascading current to shock the two Jedi.

"Well, that's a relief," Kyle sighed, letting the pylon clang against the floor. Looking up, he smirked and gestured a gloved finger at the hole where the overload had burst the ceiling. "Will you look at that? I think we've found our way up."

"If this was all the Force's doing, then it has a sick sense of humor," Jaden commented derisively.

"Haha, well, you'll get used to it," He chimed back, leaping up adeptly with his apprentice not too far behind.

Reaching the top, they entered a crimson lit corridor, lined with durasteel plating and lined with maintenance consoles around. It was likely this was a service tunnel, meant to be used to help fix problems like the one that nearly killed them. Thankfully they had only rushed into a single droid -its shields not substantial enough to absorb a lightsaber and reflected blaster bolts- as its elliptical shape left it little in the way of maneuverability. Exploding into shrapnel, the pair continued their trek till they came across what looked like a massive pit of constantly rising air.

Without skipping a beat, Kyle walked off the edge and he was careened upwards in a whoosh of motion.

"KYLE!" Jaden cried out with bugged out eyes.

"Relax, kid!" He called out from above, obviously unaffected by this freak action he committed. "I've seen tubes like these before. We can ride them to the top."

"W-Why is this so normal for you?!" The silver eyed woman exclaimed with indignation. Inhaling and exhaling, she took a hesitant back step before hurtling herself into the wind and felt her stomach lurch straight up to her throat. The gale forced her upward and she looked up, seeing Kyle idly bounce down and up, the stagnant fan above them indicating that this tube was not in full functionality either. Seeing the top opening of similarly hued corridor they came out of, she somersaulted in the air and Kyle soon landed next to her on the flooring.

"Whew, that was fun," He graveled out with a cheeky grin. "Let's see where this path takes us."

A roll of her eyes and she brandished her weapon once more and followed his lead.

After another droid was dispatched in a ball of fire and melted metal, the pair jogged ahead till they came into a more substantially sized room. A closed doorway on the bottom floor and top girders was seen, making the Coruscant-borne apprentice clicked her teeth. Kyle, however tapped her shoulder and pointed at a sporadically discharging beam of green light. It was feeding straight into a conductor on the other side, mounted along the wall and feeding no doubt into internally built power lines.

"That...doesn't look safe," Jaden commented aloud. Counting the seconds between blasts of light, there was just enough for five to pass before it'd crackle outward in a flash of peerless lime.

Kyle, without thinking too much about it, crouched down and became a blur of motion that dashed into the beam of light as it began to flicker out. Following him with haste, she narrowly avoided the next swiveling wheel-shape pillar that fed another pillar of light to shriek behind her.

" **Hey!** " A Stormtrooper exclaimed with surprise, his white helmeted head turning around with three others that were standing idly on guard.

Kyle threw a Force Push, throwing the assembled group backwards with audible crunches into the wall. Igniting his lightsaber, he leaped up into the air and flipped down to stab one, throw his saber at another and yank his Briar pistol out to shoot the other in the head. As he pulled his weapon back into his hand through the Force, he'd see Jaden deflected some shots of a Stormtrooper on the other side of the beam emitter's range.

Something she took advantage of with a Force Pull.

" **W-Wai-** AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" The trooper screamed, the beam of light incinerating him thoroughly through the plasteel armor, blowing him away with a melted putty across the room back where they had come.

"They need a better benefits," Kyle commented with a smirk. "The places they have them guarding isn't worth whatever they get paid."

"Why is this even a thing?!" Jaden cried out angrily.

"Don't look at me. I didn't design Vader's castle," Kyle raised his hands in a placating move.

Huffing, Jaden defused her peerless weapon and attached it back to her belt. The two looked at the next floor and then at the emitter rods that moved within five second intervals. Exchanging looks, they nodded to each other, knowing what needed to be done. Leaping onto one emitter, the pair let themselves get jerked -almost losing balance in the process- till they were lined up to the solid-railed balcony of the next floor. Jumping up, they'd enter through an unlocked door and pass through another broader corridor.

Coming through an array of redundant entrances, Jaden and Kyle both felt that sense of wrongness that swirled chaotically in the air.

Pushing through, Jaden somersaulted on instinct, avoiding arcs of lightning that shot from an acolyte that was waiting on the door's right corner while the other leaped from a perch he had clung to on the flat of the ceiling. Kyle stuck his azure saber out, catching the Force energies into the pure beam and withdrew his Briar pistol to shoot the surprised acolyte in the face. Holstering his hand cannon back in his holster, he'd turn to see Jaden already engaged in a crackling connection of a crimson blade against her snow colored one.

A hail of blaster bolts, firing closely towards him, brought his attention to half a dozen of stormtroopers on various partitions of a staircase on the other side of a glass walkway separating the permacrete material of the partially exposed flooring. Rushing across the rampart, he deflected blaster bolts with ease, jumping to the other side and rushing through the panicked burst firing of one trooper near the front of the sideways stairs, slashing him diagonally across the chest to a screaming gurgle. Force Pulling the trooper off the top of the staircase, he'd hear him let out a panicked cry as he'd miss the glass pane and fall into the dark pit that was exposed just beyond it. Reflecting the last few bolts into the last pair of troopers, he'd hear Jaden deal with the death cry of the acolyte behind him.

Disengaging his weapon, he'd see Jaden rush up to him, looking none worse for wear much to his approval.

"Thanks for keeping the heat off me," Jaden thanked with a half smile. "These guys may be amateurs, but I doubt it'd matter if I got hit by a blaster bolt."

"Not to mention embarrassing."

"Hey, I'm saying thanks here!"

"And I'm just roughing your bantha hide," Kyle snarked, laughing as he allowed the two to catch their breaths.

Gesturing, Jaden led the way up the staircase with her master in tow. The pair felt their teamwork had a natural knack in dealing with these crisis. Even as they moved from room to room, they divvied out responsibilities without even exchanging words. The Force flowed through them and they communicated in an unspoken way that didn't even need to exchange thought. Dozens of alabaster armored bodies were cut down, thrown about and crushed under the pair's relentless momentum.

They luckily hadn't spotted any more acolytes, but they felt like that was soon to change the higher up they'd go in Basilisk Castle.

After maneuvering through a few more familiar looking rooms, they'd find themselves at a higher elevated spot of the giant energy pylon that cascaded destructive energies. Up here they could see arcs of emerald energy crackling chaotically, this outdated technology clearly on the verge of failing in perhaps the next several years. Firing upwards into what was likely a partition of the castle's upper floors, the pair could see the mechanisms that held its stability in check and distributed the energy evenly without a cataclysmic failure.

Without a clear sign of being able to go up through the locked lifts and barred passages, they knew they had to destabilize the reflectors to arc dangerous beams back into the contraption. Throwing a few delicate Force Pushes, the two began to see their handiwork manifest as the whole machine rumbled, cracked and began to combust. The ceiling destabilized, and large wafts of permacrete began to hurtle downwards, forcing the two to avoid them for dear life.

Unfortunately, Kyle had one set of debris crash into his side and throw him off balance.

"KYLE!" Jaden cried out, watching her master get thrown off with a expletive spewing shout. Hurtling into the darkness beneath the ruined complex, she held her hand out uselessly, her exposed fingers of her wrapped palms squeezing as she felt a pang of fright and dread grip over her. The coldness that she had been surrounded by since arriving on this planet began to sting her, and she felt her mind feel haunted whispers.

Sounds that became silenced as the intercom picked up on her belt moments later.

"Jaden...Jaden can you hear me?"

"Kyle! You're alright!" She exclaimed, clasping a hand to her chest with relief. "I almost thought that...waitaminute...where are you?"

"I'm fine, but...I'm not sure where I am. I think I'm beneath the power pylon. Pretty far down too. I'll try to find a way up to meet with you. Go on ahead, we don't have the luxury of waiting to reunite at this point."

Swallowing hard, Jaden knew he was right. That premonition she felt of the acolyte that held the scepter was here. If they were going to put a stop to this Cult of Ragnos, their plans had to be halted here. No more terrorist attacks. No more killings. This was going to be the end of the line for them.

Steadying herself, she commented back on her comlink before throwing herself through a crude opening in the ceiling, "Copy that, Kyle. See you on the other side."

"You too, kid. Be careful."

* * *

 **A/N** : And like that, the next chapter ended! Sorry about the absence. I needed to take a break from this series so I can focus on other things that caught my interest. I still have big plans for this series and I hope you all look forward to it ;)


	17. Chapter 17 - The Fall

"Jaden, how's your progress?"

"So, you know that whole thing about causing a power fluctuation and making an entrance to the castle above?"

"Ran into trouble, did you?"

Peeking her head out of the hole, she narrowly ducked as a vast array of repeater and blaster fire pinged and panged across the solid floor above her, responding to the comlink in hand with a dark chuckle, "You could say that."

"What a surprise, I'm being cut off by some trouble too. Keep going up, I'll catch up when I can."

"Try not take _too_ long," The white-haired Coruscanti raised apprentice remarked, keeping it in hand as she brandished her saber with a flourishing leap out of the hole, far exceeding the broad range of the troopers below. "I might clean up all the trash lying around here."

"I'll be giving you a grade at how thorough you are when we meet up for sure," He replied with a chuckle. "See you in a bit."

Placing the comlink back into her pocket, she brandished the blade and assumed the Soresu Form. The third lightsaber form, she utilized all of her guidance to reflect and deflect the hundreds of shots unleashed by the fourteen troopers scattered along the broad open space of what was likely the basement of the castle. Four entrances lied on either side, red beams of light lied across the walls, ceiling and floor, giving an eerie foreboding illumination, highlighting the wiring protruding from exposed partitions of the ceiling and walls, with even decayed floor panels exposed nearby the feet of the troopers.

"Take her down!" A jet-trooper cried out, taking off into the air as he launched explosive balls of energy from his repeater cannon. To his dismay, Jaden Force Pushed them back into him, exploding into his heavier armored frame. Sent crashing down, the others staggered from the comet-like impact, leaving the Jedi free to land down and swiftly yank weapons out of their hands while forcing them to the floor. Even as they attempted to reach for their weapons, Jaden slammed them against the ground till they lied still, using the Force to incapacitate them.

If she could, she'd deal with them all in this manner. It didn't suit her to simply slay every enemy she came across. But at this point, the urgency of the situation demanded she take lives to save many more.

This assurance allowed her to keep moving forward, moving from one room to the next, fully embracing the flow of her conviction to strengthen her bond with the Force. It had dampened the chill in the castle, its presence far more dark than even the outside world tarnished by the Dark Side. Anger filled the flooring, and isolation ebbed off the air she breathed in. This was a place of solitude as much as it was one of hatred incarnate.

Walking into an opening that didn't look blocked off, the sense of Dark Siders pinged within her mind, causing her to crouch and stealthily creep up on the corner. She overheard their steps, walking inquisitively to the source of the sound. As they heard nothing, one of them spoke up with a muffled tone, obviously indicating he was just like the other in terms of being an acolyte.

"Was that one of the intruders?" One said.

"It must be. The troopers below reported a security breach. They must have been quick to get inside the castle so quickly," The other said with certainty.

"It doesn't matter. Soon the ritual will be complete."

"And the master will join us in our next step to glory."

Reaching into her pack, Jaden withdrew a spherical device and clicked it, the timer already begin with a rising set of pings. The sound caused the two around the corner to ignite their weapons, the shine of red outlining their shadows around the corner and casting a further deep crimson across the hall. Tossing the grenade against the wall, one of them slashed it out of reflex; mistakenly triggering the thermal detonator's chain reaction.

In a fiery explosion that threatened to blast through the dense material of the corner that Jaden took cover behind, she winced with a sense of satisfaction in getting the drop on two acolytes. Walking out, she'd step over a scorched mark, with not even a trace apart from streaks of blackness where their bodies once stood.

" _The master? They must mean the one that struck me with the scepter,_ " Jaden concluded, her eyes closing with a sense of foreboding with that in mind. Reopening them, her silver eyes shined and her body flourished with movement as she began to channel the Force through a sense of urgency. " _I've got to put a stop to this before it gets any worse!_ "

Rushing to the lift, the elevator gradually groaned up to the next floor-

-only for an acolyte to stream lightning straight towards her with an outstretched hand.

Gritting her teeth she absorbed the energies with her lightsaber, holding her defensive stance till he drained himself of stamina. As the lift began to carry her back down, she pulled him forward with the Force, causing the acolyte to trip forward and fall face first towards her. With an expert twirl of Form II: Makashi, she slashed through his head and left his body to thud onto the plating next to her.

Sighing, she let the lift take her up once more and stepped onto the crimson lit ground to keep moving forward. Along the balcony, Jaden caught sight of stormtroopers rushing with weapons in hand. Spotting her, they began to fire, some shooting rockets while others fired E11's and Repeaters. Taking cover behind a crate, Jaden reached along her back and withdrew her own concussion rifle, waiting for the rockets to blast around her. Ringing in her ears, she turned around and unleashed what shots she had, blowing them away with bluish energy tearing them apart, sending their bodies flying against the walls or over the edge. Clicking the trigger, she grimaced and tossed the weapon devoid of energy.

Passing by the ruins of battle, she'd feel something far more swollen of negativity than before. It was like feeling an empty pit of the Force, warped like the acolytes but far more refined. Looking ahead, she saw a man adorned in bluish robes, a black mask fitted around the whole of his head behind the hood while exposing his reddish-yellow eyes. A lightsaber in hand, he spoke in a sinister drawl, keeping in place while she hesitantly approached him.

"You'll face me, Jedi," He sneered.

"I don't have time to deal with you," Jaden intoned with impatience filtering what composure she had in her voice. "Stand aside or I'll bring myself to end you."

A wordless cackle released from his covered mouth and he'd suddenly crackle with bluish-white. Throwing a hand towards her, the storm of electricity far more aggressive forced her to ignite the weapon to stave it off. Even that was enough as arcs stabbed and wrapped around her limbs, snapping against her face and over her chest. Had she not had charged her portable shield, she'd likely be feeling searing burns from the Dark Side attack thrown her way.

"You're nothing!" He mocked, igniting his blade and jumping onto the balcony before using it as a perch to jump straight to stab at her.

Pulling herself back, she'd twirl her blade around and begin to parry against him. Much to her surprise, his swordplay was not that much better than the average acolyte. She easily defended herself against them, using _Makashi_ to thwart his attempts to get past her guard while holding him back from making any headway.

Taking a leaflet out of Kyle's book, she blocked an over-the-head slash and pulled out her DL-44, firing it several times in the chest. He recoiled, crying out in gurgling pain, allowing her to land a kick to his blaster-shot chest to send him hurtling to the ground. Pulling her blade back she impaled him straight through the chest into the flooring below. Choking out, he'd spasm and then go limp, letting her know that he was dealt the final blow with that move.

" _These guys. They aren't better at swordsmanship but they're stronger in the Dark Side,_ " She noted, her eyes grimly knitting as she observed his uniform design being distinctively blue rather than the orange-beige of the lesser ranks nor the green and blue designs of the unarmed acolytes. " _Blue must indicate they are traditionally more skilled at the Force. Orange or maybe red means they're skilled at the lightsaber. I guess this will help me figure out which tactics to use to overcome them_."

She'd pass through another room filled with troopers, falling back into _Soresu_ to continue dealing with the grunts of the Remnant forces that allied with this cult. In a burst of Force Speed she'd accelerate herself to cut them down faster than their bolts could even reach her. Arcs of white light followed the blur of her brown-black gear that whipped with her peerless hair and trailing gleams of silver of her eyes. They were dealt with in a matter of seconds, and she'd continue to climb upwards in the castle.

Coming across another acolyte of more esteemed garments, she saw the red coloration and knew what kind she was dealing with. In an arched narrow corridor, the elliptical design enabled her to try a new tactic.

"You can't stop us," The acolyte spoke out loud, igniting a single blade of crimson and rushing forward to slash a series of virulent arcs. Jaden held him off, his vicious assault pure aggression with little footwork to enable him to pull back. Sliding her blade, she'd twist her feet and shove her shoulder against one of his raised elbows, sliding her saber's blade against it and dialing it so that it'd phase into a longer length; one that stabbed straight through his face.

"HRK!" He made a brief pained sound before she'd push all the way through his head. Defusing the blade, she'd watch him crumple to the ground and she'd figure how easily that was handled when she just lured him into thinking she couldn't overpower him. She wondered if any of them had any real skill but then she knew that the leader of this cult was likely someone not to be trifled with.

" _Not to mention the man holding the scepter. I don't think it was that Twi'lek, but it was definitely someone strong. I may need all of my power in order to stop whoever that was,_ " She thought, keeping her momentum pushing her onward to progress to higher levels of the castle.

Trodding ahead, she'd hear the sound of a mouse droid moving its wheels across the floor and spiral around a rounded pillar, designed to be housing a lift. On the other side near the door, she heard feet clanking of troopers while familiar sounding cultists muttered to each other, speaking of their ongoing plan that was accelerating.

"I heard we're almost done here," One said to the other. "We will be leaving soon."

"Good," The other said with a perverse pleasure. "Another place of power claimed for Ragnos."

Gritting her teeth, Jaden embroiled herself in a torrent of Speed, the Force echoing her presence to the pair of warped individuals.

"What is it-?" One on the right began to say, suddenly taken off guard as a blurring wraith slammed an arc of light into his chest, curving around decapitate the other that didn't have time to ignite his blade.

" **Hey, who's ther-!** " The other trooper was felled as she'd cleave through him, downing one trooper after the other till they were all dropped.

"I don't have time for any of this nonsense!" Jaden exclaimed, her teeth rattling in place as her whole being felt the tension that discombobulated her. The higher she went, the more likely she was to fail. Their words had sparked a flame of anger, burning within her at how she doubted her ability to stop them. She did nothing to stop it, only stoking it by pushing herself harder and fight faster.

Taking the lift up, she barely acknowledged the waiting pair of acolytes, one swathed in red and the other in the standard rusty brown-orange. Throwing him with a telekinetic thrust, he'd slam against an octagon shaped window, cracking it with his body and causing him to fall flat onto his face with a crying grunt. The other threw out a tangible grip around her throat, suspending her into the air as he'd ignite his saber, ready to throw at her suspended form.

Gnashing her teeth, her eyes blanched wide and she'd let out a hoarse cry, letting the Force flow through her lungs and out of her mouth. The scream was that of a Push, but it also tore at his body, slamming him against the ground and shattering the permacrete flooring. Falling to her feet, she staggered, tugging at the soreness of her neck and blinked with a sudden realization of what she did.

Shaking her head, she dismissed any thoughts of what implication this power could've come from and saw an explosive crate next to the acolyte. Without wasting time, she pulled out her DL-44 and shot it, exploding it and killing the cultist with an explosive cry that wiped away his body in a blast of debris and flame. Opening the way for her to move ahead, she'd leap out and descend into the next room.

This time she saw a green robed acolyte and a brown uniformed one peer up, still surprised by the explosion that tore open the observatory window. A jet-trooper took flight, unleashing a hail of repeater rounds while Jaden drop-kicked the viridescent colored cultist before severing his neck from his head. Veering around she'd pull the incoming adversary forward so his lightsaber wouldn't meet its mark, allowing her aggravated-filled body to drive her blade into his back and kill him quickly. The repeater rounds took off her shields in some sparking flashes, causing her to wince at the shots coming at him.

Through an adept use of improvisation, she Force Lifted one of the crates and hurtled it into his floating body, crashing him against it and slamming into the ground below. The storage containment room of matte grey walls and a flat ceiling was vast, and different from the red lit rooms she had come from.

She had a feeling she might be drawing closer to her objective now that she had progressed this far.

Exiting the cargo room she came across a lift station, where a pair of acolytes were waiting for her. A bluish robed one unleashed a swathe of lightning, causing her to back away from it as it violently cascaded against the permacrete wall of the corner. The brown-robed cultist ran past him as he doused his negative energy-

-only to step on a mine Jaden left as she watched him trip the laser it protruded.

"AAAAAAAH!" He screamed, the explosion violently ramming him against the wall while the blast itself tore a good chunk out of his torso. Falling limp in a partially charred heap, the other cultist began to run, leaving him to be gunned down by pistol fire as Jaden reentered the room. Holstering her weapon, she took the only working lift upward, feeling a growing sense of apprehension of the incoming goal.

Passing by an array of discarded junk on a curved opening of a wall that looked akin to a workbench, Jaden saw another red swathed 'master' acolyte. It'd surprise her as he'd unveil a pair of lightsabers instead of the atypical one, spinning them above his palms as he cackled pridefully at her.

An annoyed look passed by her face and she'd Push the assorted metal chunks at him. Surprised at this maneuver, he slashed the first bits of metal with expert blurs of crimson, slashing through each piece of debris as if it was skeet. In doing this he was more surprised when one of the things coming his way was a rocket, hoisted by Jaden who picked it off a trooper earlier. Throwing it back with a raise of his palm, Jaden hurtled it back with a readied Push, impacting against his arm and blasting him in a shower of blood and fire that scorched the far curved wall behind him.

Holstering her heavy armament, she continued to move ahead, knowing full well each one of these minions of the cults was just here to slow her down.

The next room she saw four lifts of sheer metal drop into square blocks, locking into place. The red lined room was eerily colored in a way that this whole place looked like a trap or an arena, with curved grey blockage that didn't seem to serve any other purpose but to contain something. Walking up to the console, she pressed it, and heard one of the lifts rise up to connect to the ceiling.

Triggering one of the curved blockages to open, and reveal a pair of Imperial Interrogator droids.

"Oh joy," She drawled out, whipping out her E-11 and unleashing a hail of bolts that tore them to shreds.

Once they were dismantled, she noticed the next lift rose up in sequence, unveiling a pair of familiar assassin droids. Firing off precise shots while having formidable shielding, she employed _Soresu_ to wear down their shots as she drew close enough to time her throws of the peerless colored saber to carve through their barriers and tear their robotic bodies apart. The third lift rose up and she'd see a familiar set of elliptical droids, firing their triage of blasters at her while having somewhat competent shields; they too were eliminated in a swiftly efficient fashion.

The final lift that connected to the ceiling unveiled a pair of training droids; the same kind that she had went through the obstacle course on Yavin IV.

Igniting yellow blades, they stomped forward in their clunky assured manner, forcing her to taking up a _Makashi_ form. Their protruding lightsaber-infused arms moved with vicious arcs and lethal stabs, each of them intending to land a significant blow while taking rigid defense postures. It made them easy to parry, and she'd extend and shorten her blade to slide past their defenses and cut through their thick bulk. Downing them in what she'd feel was record timing, she'd look to see nothing official transpired from the four lifts.

Looking around, she'd see one of the openings that contained droids had a shield refresher and a lift. Taking time to refill her vital personal shields, she'd take the lift down.

"We have an intruder!" An acolyte said, attempting to run away from Jaden as she began to descend with it.

Not allowing him to run for long, she Pulled him with a gesture of the Force and then leaped with a flourish of her blade to stab straight into his chest. As he breathed his last, one of the other acolytes brandished an E-11, jumping and twirling wildly while using the blaster to hopefully land a solid blow. A timely deflection that hit him square in the chest halted his evasive maneuver, and she'd throw her lightsaber in an arcing curve to cut him down for good.

Blade back in hand, she trekked out of the winding corridor of grim lighting and came across a sight that took her breath away.

A vast window pane of webbed reinforcement let in the bleak lighting of Vjun outside. There the crumbled statue of Vader lied in ruins from what was assuredly a grandiose pedestal that acted as a menacing if not imposing centerpiece of the room. Standing beside it was one acolyte in green and the other in red. Pulling out a pair of red lightsabers, the other lifted up the remains one slab of the statue and hurtled it towards Jaden.

Forward flipping over it, she Pushed him back, igniting her weapon and swinging it around to engage in a flourishing clash against the two blades held by the red-robed one. Throwing smaller arcs of lightning and then a kick, she deflected one and jumped over the other. Twisting around she'd pull at his head, jerking him just enough to knee him in the gut and then Push him into the pedestal with a sickening crack. As he staggered, a pair of acolytes from the shadows fired E-11's, keeping her from finishing off their comrade. The one she had downed earlier stood up, throwing out a torrent of lightning in addition, forcing her to dance away.

The dual bladed master raised up the statue across the wall with a telegraphed grip and pull. Dropping flat to the floor, she felt the piece of debris nearly catch her only to accidentally crush the green robed man under its sheer weight. Snarling, the dual bladed 'master' leaped up and aimed to stab her while she was prone.

Inhaling deep, she twisted around and palmed the ground, pushing herself back up to her feet as he stabbed the ground. Turning to orbit the blades around like satellites, he approached in a run, the blades parrying hers in an intent to cut her down. Grimacing, she leaped up and kicked one of the blades and drew down her own to cut him across the chest before the other could return to his grip. The blasters that fired off were swiftly reflected back at the remaining ones in the central room, causing them to drop to the floor dead.

Despite the struggle, she felt the rush of blood pumping through her veins didn't weary her. Something was happening inside of her and she couldn't explain how or why, but the more she fought with such relentless fervor, the more she could generate. The words that echoed within her mind from the time she spent at the ruins made her wonder if this is what the apparition meant by trusting only in yourself?

Shaking her head, she took the staircase and dealt with more acolytes of similar fancy. Taking them down took some finesse but none were all that difficult. Their arcing blades were stopped by her white sword of light, their bodies dismembered or maimed, left in piles behind her as she hurried up one floor after the other. The sense of dread was filling her gut, and she hadn't the faintest idea of what awaited her at the top. Climbing to the top floor, she saw one acolyte attempt to stop her and she'd send him flying with a Pull and Push, hearing him cry out pitifully before silenced by a meaty crunch below.

"I've had enough of these cultists," She breathed out with exasperation, turning and twisting around more red lit halls. Spying a shield refresher, she almost felt relieved until she heard a dark cackle from around the corner.

Growling under her throat she ignited her blade and leaped around the corner, accelerating herself in a burst of Force Speed. This one brandished a double-bladed saber, dancing around in slow motion as she rushed towards him. He blocked the first few strikes, countering with a few swift blows but only grazed her shielding. Embroiling herself in Protection she persisted in slashes, cutting through his weapon and striking him down after her defenses were finally depleted.

Taking time to reprise, she refreshed her shields and faced the door up ahead. The sense of siphoning darkness lied just beyond here. The vast majority of the darkness that she had initially felt when entering the castle proper was being collected her. Because it wasn't fully gone gave her hope she had a chance to fully stop this cult!

With a defused blade in her hand, she rushed through the doorway and entered the final chamber.

Here, it was a throne room for sure, a partially exposed black octagon -like an onyx egg with exposed seating and equipment on the inside for someone to be seated within- at the far path of the room. Grey metal walls were lit in a luminescent glow, with a set of crimson lit steps leading up to the throne proper. Passing by a sealed door on his left, a row of support pillars lined the area on either side.

A familiar sight brought her approach to a slow walk.

The twins, hulking masses of muscle swathed in crimson robes with grey outlines, stood on either side of a similarly robed cultist who brandished the scepter at the throne of Vader. Dasariah and Vil Kothos both stared impassively ahead, not even caring about this sudden interruption of Jaden's walk. However, the nostalgic sense of familiarity was brought upon as a voice unmistakably called out to her in a menacing neutral tone.

"I know its you, Jaden," The robed, shorter man spoke, turning around with scepter in hand, a hood wrapped over his spiky head and a normally rosy face looked far more pale than its usual healthy visage. Amber eyes swirled with a searing yellow, and cracks of red covered the whites of his eyes. The lightsaber that she had helped him build lied on his waist, between a sash that was wrapped around his acolyte robes.

Worse of all, he smiled in a twisted way that brought the stunned Jaden completely to a stop.

"Rosh," She hoarsely croaked out, her hand reaching up out of reflex and then having it drop as she shook her head. "No...no why are you here?! You were captured and...what are you doing with _them?!_ "

"It's natural to be confused why I'm here," He explained in a eerily serene voice, radiating confidence and oozing self absorption. Walking off the steps away from the throne, he held the scepter loosely in his hand, waving it with emphasis as he explained. "I went to Byss, like planned. But it was a trap, and I was captured. I was afraid they were going to kill me," He gestured at the twins behind them, and then lowered his head while a smile brandished across his face. "But, I was wrong."

"What?" Jaden blinked, her silver eyes still shakily staring back at him.

" _Do you realize just_ _how much power the Dark Side has?_ " Rosh asked rhetorically, his eyes alight with an erratic look and his hands swung around wildly as he embellished his words with his body's movements. "Kyle and the others _were_ holding us back after all. You should _feel_ the power!"

Jaden felt her skin go numb. That same sense of wrongness that had happened when she had the dream where she shared another's senses and experienced someone else's words. It all added up now. She had formed a bond with Rosh strong enough to link them together and allow her to see what was happening. The Force drew her here as much as he was being manipulated by the Cult to do their bidding.

The betrayal he had incurred wasn't wholly his fault, and Jaden pushed aside the shock away to try to persuade him.

"Rosh, what are you saying?" She shook her head, a smile forced on her lips and a hand raised out towards her friend. "You're a Jedi! We're apprentices at an Academy and we've already been through so much together."

"I don't-" He began to say, his eyes furrowing and his smile vanishing for a pursed lipped look of confusion.

"That's the lightsaber you built, remember?" The Echani-blooded woman pointed at his hip, causing his own eyes to glance at it himself; as if he just realized he had it. "Remember how hard you worked on it, and how proud you were when you showed it to me?"

"N-No," He dropped the scepter, his hand gripping the weapon and pulling it off his sheathe. He didn't even notice the staff clang to the ground as his eyes wavered. Falling to his knees he began to mutter aloud, barely audible as he held his head and began to question things. "No...I...I'm..."

"Enough talk!" Dasariah snarled out, unfurling his arms along with his twin, the two sneering at the young boy who had humiliated them earlier. "Rosh! Eliminate this Jedi so we may complete our task!"

The indecision in Rosh Penin ceased before Jaden's eyes. A gleam of yellow overlapped his usual amber irises. Standing upright, he raised the saber he presented to her months ago, holding it out with a threatening gesture.

His words held no doubt as he spoke, "You're right. If you stand in our way, Jaden. Then I'll be forced to kill you."

A familiar purring hum ignited the emerald blade, flashing in stark contrast to the rest of the Sith worshipers that had corrupted him. That sense of dread that resonated within the castle was now coursing through Rosh. This place that wreaked of the Dark Side was now funneling into him, and the young man was now wreathed in a visible current of malevolent energy.

Resigned to defeat her friend. Jaden raised her weapon up and ignited it with a peerless ignition of hissing light.

Leaping forward, Rosh swung around in a practiced art of Ataru, the 4th Form. Twirling around and using aerodynamic strikes at Jaden, he swung his emerald blade around to clash at her Makashi stance. Amidst her defense, he endowed himself with a mantle of Protection, kicking off the air and tackling Jaden into the floor with a vicious crash of her back meeting the durasteel plating. Raising his blade to stab her through the face, she cut at his side, crackling the barrier and bringing him a cry of pain.

Pushing him back with a palm, she flipped back up to her feet and took the offensive.

Flipping the blade up, he'd spin it around in the air, creating a ring of green that blocked and concussed against her attempts to stab or slash at his person. He let out a gleeful cackle, pulling back his left hand and throwing out a grip that coiled around her chest and thrust her straight into one of the pillars out the other side with a smashing crack. Pinned by the wafting wave of telekinetic might, he'd then throw an additional arc of lightning that ate away at her shields, burning at her retinas along with her skin as he laughed aloud.

Despite convincing herself to defeat him for his sake, her own life was at risk. The sense of urgency to get here was replaced with a determination to survive. Grinding her teeth in place, she erected her own mantle of Protection and hurled a Push that sent the broken bits of the pillar straight at him. Dancing away as it ricocheted off the wall, he also picked the pieces up and threw them in a dousing of Force Lightning to increase their potency.

Speeding away, she slid across on her knees and bent her head along with her upper body to narrowly avoid the arcing currents attached to broad pieces of rubble that slammed across the throne room. Spinning back up to her feet, she'd throw a Pull, only for a flash of cyan to overlap his pulsing rhythmic green, absorbing the command of energy and defusing it outright. Chuckling he Pushed at her, causing her to shield up in reflex and then Pulled again to send her tripping into an unintentional somersault.

Tossing his blade around in an arcing motion, it'd boomerang around as she'd narrowly deflect its aimed cut. Barely able to get up to a squat, Rosh leaped head over heels and drove his blade down to cleave her down. Her eyes widened as his energy that pulsed around him changed hue from cyan to blue, indicating visually his defenses were weakened. At the last second of him coming down on her, she closed her eyes and slashed her blade around in a Force Speed blur, cutting him deeply across the chest in a groove of molten light.

Crying out in pain, he dropped to the ground on all fours, bleeding profusely from the chest wound she gave him.

Instead of the battle stopping, then and there, she'd watch with horror as the twins revealed their true purpose of being here. Their hands, coated in thick waves of Dark Side energy, shot crimson beams of light straight into Rosh's body. The blood loss stopped and before her eyes, the sign of her cut had diminished within seconds.

Too stunned for words, Rosh finally stood back up, a malicious smile painted across his face.

"I told you, Jaden," He intoned with a teeth bared grin. "The Dark Side is beyond anything you can imagine!"

For emphasis, he cast a stream of red energy. Despite her raising her peerless blade to soak it in, it barely mitigated what was truly transpiring. Fiery arcs of pain stabbed at her, the strength of her body waning and the Force barely held back the damage as visible pulses of light strengthened the young man apart from her. Withdrawing his palm, he'd then throw a torrential cyclone, Pushing her straight into the wall and then dragging her across it with a grinding sense of prejudice.

Sparks danced off the wall as her Protection kept the worst of it at bay, but it didn't nullify all of the damage. Arms curled around her head and she'd feel him whip her around the room before driving her straight through another pillar, her Protection snapping out and her shields sparking out of power. Collapsed in a heaping pile of steam, abrasions and bruises, blood ebbed from her mouth and nostrils as she began to push herself up to her feet.

Only for Rosh to throw a cacophony of draining crimson energy over her. Recoiling with a cry, he'd take it a step further and step over her, crouching over her writhing waist and using his saber wielding hand to grip her throat while holding an orb of absorbing blood colored light over her head. Choking out and spasming beneath him, he drank in her fear and terror, eyes alight with the torture she was instilling upon her.

"How does it feel, Jaden?! Knowing you can't laud over me your, oh so special talents?!" He growled out, his voice full of resentment and his eyes showing nothing but contempt. "Kyle won't be here to save you and you can't come up with a clever way to win this time! For once, I'll be better than you! And I'll show you why you can't just beat me!"

As pain and agony tore through her veins, the times that Rosh had been abrasive and competitive to the point of nearly threatening her life emerged. Like a throbbing headache, Rosh's existence had almost been a torment to her. She pushed past it, and found a connection if only through force of will. She thought they finally had a friendship, but jealousy and greed was all that fueled this man's desire.

"KOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORR!"

The voice whispered in her mind, as if she was back in the ruins on Yavin IV once more. Even as darkness crept in around her gaze, she felt that familiar being speak words across the cosmos, straight to her mind.

" _HEEEEEEEE ISSSSSSSS BEEEEEEETRAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAL! DESTRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOY THEEEEEEE TRAAAAAAAAITORRRRRRRRR!_ "

The words that spoke to her was all that she could grasp onto. The serene calm that she normally possessed had been all drowned out since she awakened from that potent dream. This man would kill her because he was too cowardly and arrogant to admit when he had fallen. He was no longer her friend, but someone who willingly threw himself into the Dark Side and took all those memories only to discard them.

"DOOOOOOOOO IIIIIIIIIIIIIT! NOOOOOOOOOOW!"

Just as Rosh began to cackle at the lack of resistance and the cry of pain, a sudden wellspring of strength siphoned from the throne room, rumbling it with an ominous vibration. The coldness of the planet seeped through the castle, the still tangible remains of Vader's throne rattled with its connection. The twins even looked around nervously, while Rosh lessened his Drain long enough to look around at this disturbance in the Force.

Which was all the time Jaden needed to ignite her blade straight through his waist out the other side.

"AAAAH!" Rosh cried out, finding himself reeling back in pain. A sudden Push sent him sprawling back, his hands clenching his sides even as he skid backwards. Wincing he'd look up, seeing Jaden haggard and beaten, but now staring a more blank stare of disregard for him than before. Growling he stood up, using the energy he had taken from her and mending his wound shut. Swathed in green and then shifting it to cyan, he'd leap back to slash at her.

Only to find a howling storm of Lightning to slam into him.

"NNNNNGH!" He brandished his blade, feeling a chunk of his Protection torn apart even with Absorption in place. The sheer discharge was enough to tear apart the faces of the support beams, blacken and scorch the throne while also impacting against the twins. They howled in fury and rage, throwing out their own collective Lightning in response.

Speeding away, she'd avoid their attacks, racing around till she was behind them. Dasariah turned and threw out Lightning, only to find his body jerked against the throne at the same time his twin was. Left staggered, Jaden jumped off the wall and landed a knee kick to his face, bloodying his face. Vaulting over him to avoid a sudden Push from the other twin, she threw her lightsaber in an arc that he nimbly leaped away to avoid; leaving him open for another douse of Lightning that set his robes aflame and slammed him against the wall. Gurgling out his last breaths, Vil fell into a crumpled pile on the floor with an inert stance on the ground.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Dasariah howled with fury, throwing another storm of Lightning towards Jaden. He'd see her fend it off with Protection and Lightning of her own, countering his while enduring its punishment. Despite the burns she received past its shielding, she let out a fierce cry as she'd throw more and more power the more pain she felt. The agony brought forth onto her steadily overwhelmed his rage, and in a look of fear, he was also erupted in fire and shocking currents, thrown back against the wall and dropped to the floor dead as well.

Heaving heavily, Jaden turned around to see Rosh rush up with saber in hand, aiming to cut down at her. Deflecting it with a horizontal two-handed block, she glared fiercely at him, making the arrogant composure begin to wane on the spike-haired man. Shoving back at him with reinforced strength that coursed through her, she began to slash repeatedly against his defense, pushing him back and around the flooring while mercilessly driving him around wherever she desired.

Tripping on a rock, Rosh felt his side cut open with a slash followed up with a broad cut diagonally up his chest followed by a vicious pommel strike by Jaden's saber onto his head. Falling down, the bleeding, injured man fell to the floor, holding bloodied hands up in a pleading manner. Raising her blade in preparation for the killing stroke, a sudden pair of feet brought her and Rosh's attention to Kyle who looked to be slightly scuffed and disheveled from whatever trouble he faced earlier.

"K-Kyle," Rosh began to rasp out, looking a cross between lament and fear over his face. "I-"

The sealed doorway became unsealed in an instant. Before Kyle and Jaden could fully turn, a new source of Dark Side energy discharged straight into their sides. Lightning danced around the air, snapping and popping, their bodies convulsing as negative energies brutally burned them, bringing them to their haunches.

A tutting of a tongue across teeth came, and a curvaceous woman emerged from the doorway.

"You didn't think I'd give up my new apprentice so easily, did you?" Her voice purred out, sultry yet possessing a distinctively passive aggression to it. Jaden strained her gaze to look over at her, noticing that she wore tight leather pants that had her hips sway back and forth in an alluring way most would consider attractive. Her well defined waist was exposed, leaving a sleeveless arched jacket that was unbuttoned in the front to expose her cleavage that was concealed by a strung up purple bra. Her hair was knotted in a bun, with stray reddish-tipped-white feathers and her face was covered in a tribal amethyst paint from the nose up over her golden eyes over her exposed forehead.

"Tavion-" Kyle gasped, slowly standing upright, though obviously taken off guard from the sneak attack.

Casually gesturing, the scepter Pulled back into her grip as she leaned on one hip and pointed idly at the bearded master, "You should've killed me while you had the chance, Katarn. That mercy of yours will cost you your life!"

Demonstrating through a whipping palm, he was Pushed across the room and slammed into the wall. Hearing him grunt brought a wince from Jaden, watching him fall onto his hands and knees.

"And the life of your academy's students," Tavion embellished, her eyes strafing over to Jaden's, her pained features a mixture of anger and fear that she drank in with satisfaction. But, when she looked at the fearful face of Rosh, she lulled out in a maternal coo, beckoning him with an outstretched hand. "But not you my dear sweet Rosh. Now. _Come_."

"Yes, Tavion," Rosh intoned in a strangely neutral voice, his legs walking over and seemingly ignoring the pain of his injuries to stand obediently by her side.

"R-Rosh...wait!" Jaden reached out with her saber grip. She was in too much pain to fight as she did earlier. Even now she was desperate to keep him from going to their side. The scepter was here, and so was the cult leader. If only she had more power!

"Ha!" Tavion scoffed, placing an around suggestively around Rosh's waist and holding him close to her. Though he had a vacant smile on his face, there was no indication of this being a healthy embrace. Embellishing this with a discarding laugh, she rolled her head around to emphasize her disdain. "Your petty friendship is no match for the power of Dark Side, little girl!"

"So, this is what it comes down to, Tavion?" Kyle inquired incredulously, dusting himself off and smirking derisively at her as he spoke. "Stealing scraps of Dark Side energy like some sort of intergalactic parasite?"

"Spare me your words of self righteous pity, Katarrn!" She spat, venomously glaring at him with pursed lips baring her teeth angrily. Her face turned thoughtful, and she growled out her next words. "You may have shamed me once when you spared me my life. But, that was before I had _this_!"

Holding the elaborate, ancient staff in plain view, Jaden could see this was a relic of old history for the Jedi and Sith. Wherever she found this thing, it clearly isn't something one can just make following instructions. This was a tool, and it was a catalyst for an untold nexus of malicious, endless energy.

Even now she can hear its whispers, voices, subdued in her grasp and held in her control.

Looking at her prized possession, the lightsaber she held so dear, she knew that without making a sacrifice they'd assuredly be killed here and no one would know what became of Rosh. She was in no position to fight, and Kyle most likely wasn't at his best after that fall, along with the fighting he went through to catch up. Had they met her in an ambush, maybe things would be different.

But now, she saw little to no choice but look up at the ceiling and gather her strength for one last move.

"Now, I have a new master," Tavion spoke out with fondness, creepily spreading her smile ear to ear as her eyes gleamed with infatuation as she continued to speak. "One who has promised me the power to destroy the Jedi, forever."

"Ragnos?" Kyle shook his head, side to side with a disbelieving expression. "What do you hope to gain from a dead Sith Lord?"

"Everything I could ever want-" She answered with a purr, surprised to hear the lightsaber nearby spring to life. Rosh gawked as Jaden coaxed the weapon up into the air, guiding it straight towards the weathered ceiling and slashing it with a precise stroke-

-one that ended when Tavion attempted to stop it by hastily firing a beam of golden light from her scepter. The saber, shattered into pieces and the crystal was grounded to dust before her eyes. Tears welled up within Jaden's eyes as she bid her treasured weapon farewell, and the whole of the castle's ceiling began to cascade in a shower of debris towards them. A torrent of Force Speed allowed her to drag Rosh and her scepter with her, but Jaden felt that the saber-cut ceiling wasn't going to be merciful in its impact.

That is, until she heard it make a distinctive halt in the air. Blinking her eyes open, she stared at Kyle, his arms holding up what was likely a metric tonnage of the castle over his head in a very low dome between them.

"This...is...not...ideal!" Kyle struggled to say aloud, his forehead throbbing with veins and his eyes knitted shut. "I can't hold it much longer, Jaden!"

"Hold on!" She shouted, reaching for his lightsaber he dropped between his squatting legs. Inverting the blade, she ignited it and carved a hole just big enough for them to drop through. Falling first, he came after, and a few loose flotsam dropped beside them and sealed the throne room above.

"You okay?" Jaden asked with a look of concern on her face.

"Yeah, I'm...well...I can't say I'm okay, after all of that," He sighed, looking grimly over at Jaden. Taking his lightsaber back, he gestured to her, trying to ignore the fact that her face paled and her body ebbed a melancholic energy about her now. "Come on. Let's get out of this place."

* * *

 **A/N** : Rosh has turned to the Dark Side and is apprenticed to an old enemy of Kyle's, Tavion! The apprentice to the Dark Jedi Desann, she was spared when she begged for her life and now she's returned with the Cult of Marka Ragnos to bring about the end of the Jedi. Jaden's emotions are a torrent of anguish and harm. What will become of our aspiring Jedi-to-be with the loss of a dear friend? Find out in the next chapter of Temptations!


	18. Chapter 18 - It's a Long Story

The trip back was one of prolonged silence.

Even taking the shorter route to the outside of the now defunct castle, Kyle and Jaden did their best to avoid stragglers that still inhabited the veritable tomb of a structure. The bleak halls that held hints of whispers were all the shreds of power remaining; the rest having been siphoned by Rosh for Tavion.

For the will of the Disciples of Ragnos.

The peerless hair and eyed apprentice could barely comprehend it. The young man who idolized the Jedi, who had family ties to their legacy and hated the Empire more than anything was now a pawn of the Remnant. Her emotions were a jumbled mess, as part of her knew that he was being manipulated by the Tavion through the Dark Side. On the other hand, the words he spoke cut deeper than any heinous power that he used against her in that fight.

Was he always this jealous of her? Did he genuinely find friendship with her?

She didn't know what to believe, only knowing whose fault it was. Rosh was captured at Byss, just as Luke and Kyle had come to find out. For how long was his capture determined? And how much of the information was falsified? Her friend's aptitude in the Force was formidable, sure, but his use of so many variant of Dark Side powers made her suspect he had at least a hint of training leading up to this moment; enough that even she was starting to fall just to survive against him.

Tavion. That name burned into her mind the same time her master said it with disbelief. Somehow, Kyle knew who this woman was. She was the leader of this cult, and this faction of the Imperial Remnant.

"Kyle," She finally spoke, their boots touching the pavement of the hangar while they were now out of the acidic rain of Vjun. Her bangs obscured her eyes when her master turned to look at her. Her lips quivered, teeth barely revealed but the intent of her next words fairly obvious. Hands shook at her sides, spasming as she reined in her voice "How do you know that woman...Tavion?"

"Ah," Jedi Master Katarn stopped, his voice dry as always and even expectant. "That's...a long story."

"Then tell it to me," Jaden exhaled raggedly, placing a finger-less glove palm over her chest. Her eyes looked through her dirty, sweat infused alabaster tresses with a desperate look escaping the silver rings over her contracted pupils. "I deserve to know!"

Pressing his lips tight, Kyle inhaled through his nostrils and let out a tired sigh. Nodding, he gestured to the Raven's Claw, beckoning her to come with. Following a few seconds later, the two sat onto the seats of the light courier, taking off after a brief ignition of the engines.

"Okay...where do I start?" He began to say, pulling his ship up and away from Vjun's stormy atmosphere. "I think I mentioned I know a little bit of the Sith, right?"

"What does that have to-?"

"Context, kid," The ex-agent replied with a grim smile, pushing into outer space and immediately punching numbers while corkscrewing within the black void beyond the ruined world behind him. "Truth be told, when I was just getting the hang of the Force, I took up a pupil to learn some of my more unorthodox tricks; Mara Jade."

"Master Jade?"

"One in the same," He confirmed, dialing the distance so it'd jump straight back to Yavin IV. "Anyways, we were dealing with some Remnant crap, as usual, and we were forced to part ways after our base was assaulted. I boarded a mobile asteroid of theirs and learned they had some important world by the name of Dromund Kaas. I went there alone and...the planet was seeped in the Dark Side."

"Like Vjun?"

"It's not really the same. Where you can feel Vjun has been ruined by the horrors inflicted on its surface, Dromund Kaas is like something that just naturally exudes its power; like a poisoned plant that keeps spewing spores to spread its influence," The grizzled Jedi explained with an uncomfortable expression, pulling back on the hyperdrive levers and pushing them forward. The revving of the ship was commencing and the stars ahead of them stretched across their horizon, the spacecraft pulling them ahead in a whirring thrum of faster-than-light momentum. Once in hyperspace, Kyle relaxed, and leaned back into his seat as he explained further. "I...wasn't prepared for that kind of influence. I've only been a Jedi through the seat of my pants. I never went to a temple since I was a kid or learned from a master in the traditional sense. So, I was driven mad and my mind was no longer my own; then Mara Jade showed up."

"Did you fight?" Jaden inquired with a surprised look on her face.

"Oh did we?" Kyle laughed sardonically, looking down at his gloved hand with a mirthful smirk on his face. "Luke sure knows how to pick'em. Even when I was a black sponge of Dark Side energy, she gave it to me good, probably even better than I could've. And then, she surprised me by leaving her fully exposed, to get cut down by my hand and believing that I could bring myself back to the light. And, she was right...but that didn't sit well with me."

"What do you mean?" The silver-eyed girl blinked.

"The fact I fell so far, and did almost an irreperable action. I didn't think I was worthy of that kind of strength with a strong temptation," He grinned sloppily, looking over at Jaden with dark but honest eyes. "So I quit."

"You quit being a Jedi?!" Jaden blanched, looking almost mortified at the concept of it being done. "H-How?!"

"Well, obviously it's a personal decision not many make. Usually the moment you pick up a saber, you're on one side or the other," He explained, waving his right hand back and forth for emphasis. "But I was a freelance agent for the Rebel Alliance, and a mercenary before that. It felt natural for me to cut ties to the Force and go back doing what I always did. Not saying it was easy, given how I must have unconsciously used that kind of power long before I knew what I was."

Leaning back, Jaden tried to picture the man as anything but a Jedi Master. He exuded a natural wisdom that had a nugget of true sincerity that not many could express in just words. But the way he told the story felt real to her, as if she could've easily seen herself in his shoes in another life.

"For a few years, I drifted about, taking jobs for the New Republic as they continued to fight the Empire's bulwarks. It wasn't until I found out some nasty operations to infuse the Force into living beings to make them sensitive to it and wield its power, that I came across her," He continued, his face brewing into something of a cross of regret and disgust. "Tavion Axmis."

This was when Jaden curled her hands into fists on her lap, her eyes now slanted into a narrow gaze at Kyle in firm memory of the vile woman. She was wreathed in spite and spat nothing but venom towards Kyle. It was obvious she had nothing but a personal vendetta against the man and was dragging the Jedi Academy into her clamor for revenge.

"We tried tracking this Dark Jedi named Desann, a Chistori, who was at the head of this operation to infuse those crystals I mentioned of the Force into living test subjects in order to breed an army of Force sensitives. But, of course, I got my ass handed to me and Desann fabricated the death of my wife, Jan Ors; instigated by Tavion herself," He closed his eyes, leaning his head back and thudding it against the chair with visible frustration. "I had already given up my connection to the Force but, in that moment, I felt my purpose was lost when that was robbed of me. And Desann played me for a fiddle. I cared only in getting revenge and that brought me back to the Valley of the Jedi, a place where its residual Force energy is bottomless and can grant even a fossil like me in regaining my connection to its power."

"Wait," Jaden stopped, her eyes widening with clarity. "It granted you its power?"

"Hm?" Kyle turned, finding his story's interruption borne of an epiphany.

"The staff," Jaden raised her hands for emphasis, explaining to her master with a wild look in her eyes. "It steals power but it also projects it. What if the reason why this cult has seemingly an unlimited number of cultists is because she instills the power of the Force?"

Blinking a few times, Kyle cupped his bearded chin, stroking it thoughtfully at this. The train of thought wasn't beyond his own realm of thinking. In fact, it tied directly into his part with Tavion herself and what her former master was trying to do.

"Let me continue the story," Kyle insisted with a slightly distracted edge to his voice. "Because that's what ended up happening. By the time I began coming into contact with Desann's Imperial allies, it turned out that he had bestowed power to neophytes that that had warped energy about them. It felt similar but not the same as what these cultists feel like whenever we run across them. Some of them that ambushed me in the castle when we were cut off were definitely members of Desann's Reborn, but the rest? I think that's where Tavion got the idea to use this staff to form her personal army of Dark Siders."

"What does she need all these other planets' worth of Dark Side power, then? If she wanted to, she'd probably have ten times the number of cultists on her side," Jaden argued aloud her hands up with insistence. "Why bother going to places strong in the Force, regardless of it being tainted by the Dark Side?"

"If I wanted to make a guess?" The bearded man inquired with humorless smile. "It's some Sith ritual involving Marka Ragnos himself."

Jaden sat back, trying to piece together what they had just realized. It was a hard thing to fathom, to be granted the power to manipulate the Force through an ancient artifact. But, given how a single crystal was all that it took to call her to it in her dreams, and instruct her on building a lightsaber, it wasn't unbelievable.

"Anyways, where was I?" Kyle asked rhetorically, looking ahead at the swirling vortex of bluish-white light before their gaze. "Oh, right. I came across Tavion a second time. I was filled with a lot of anger and the memory of hearing Jan scream was all that carried me forward. It was a tough fight but I took her apart quicker than even that kid I Yun.

"I held her off the edge of a docking ring, threatening to kill her and she broke. She began to confess everything what her master was up to, and that they had spared Jan's life to help find out critical information about the New Republic; including where the location of the Jedi Academy was. So, when I asked why I should believe her and let her live, she told me told me these words: Because I don't want to die."

Lowering his head, he wrapped his head in his left hand's glove while the other tightened at his side.

"In hindsight, it probably would've saved us all a headache if I just went ahead and taken her out. But, it just felt...wrong. I didn't even need the Force to tell me what I was doing was going to hurt me as much as it'd end her. So, I told her to run and pray that I found her master before he'd find her. And, after all was said and done, I never found a trace of her after that. It's been years too, so I can only wonder just how long it took for her to find that staff and formulate this kind of plan."

Jaden became visibly disturbed at that. Something about how the voice that spoke to her when she was threatened with death by Rosh's hands coerced her into giving into her anger in order to survive. The power she unleashed was much greater than even the time that she used to kill Rax Joris. It sustained her, reinvigorated her and even made her physically more powerful. And, in the heat of the moment, she had considered killing Rosh for what he was planning to do to her.

Yet, was that the wrong thing to do? He had fallen, and would've killed her had he succeeded. Was she really in the wrong, simply because she was doing so out of desperation?

But, bringing herself out of that quagmire of doubt, she couldn't help but wonder if Tavion wasn't the one who came up with this plan. What if she was spoken to in the same way she was when she visited the ruins where she trained on her own?

"Anyways," Kyle continued, looking ahead at the vortex of light and space that the Raven's Claw continued to traverse through, as he placed his hands on the console in front of him. "That's the whole story. My life, as much of a mess as it has been, is tied to Tavion. The mercy I showed her has earned me a dangerous enemy and I can't help but feel guilty for allowing so many lives to be lost thanks to her."

"Maybe you should've done it," Jaden proffered, her own eyes averting his timely ahead, a vacant look glazing over her silver eyes. "But we don't have time to regret, do we?"

Sighing raggedly, Kyle looked at the board, noticing a pinging of the incoming destination, "Yeah. We got a job to do."

Jaden let that sit in the air as they returned to real-space, and the moon of Yavin appeared before them. After beaming their credentials and announcing their descent, air control allowed them to pass into the world's atmosphere. She didn't notice it before, but she saw the sign of a small orbiting fleet of cruisers, keeping the planet more secure from what could be another invasion or attack by the Remnant backing the Disciples of Ragnos.

Swerving around the treeline, she'd see the primary temple that housed the Academy and the New Jedi Order. Landing within its re-purposed hangar from its time spent as the Rebel Alliance's base, the two got out with Jaden acting automatically with very little stimuli registering to her head. Some of the students looked her way and could tell without speaking that she was troubled. She didn't try to hide her current state, but only withdrew her mind to allow her a sense of privacy in case someone thought to prod her.

Something that her master undoubtedly could see at just a glance.

Gathered in the meeting hall of the Academy was Luke, for once alone. He was in a cross-legged stance of meditation, his eyes closed and his face a mask of serenity that no doubt was there to put anyone else's minds at ease. The Grandmaster of the new order was likely just as disturbed by recent events as those tasked to carry them out.

When the master and apprentice stopped at the foot of the stairs, Luke's eyes opened.

"You're back," He gasped with relief in his words, his eyes brightening despite their visible appearance. "I was worried, given where I sent you."

"Yeah, we're alright, all things considered," Kyle admitted, crossing his arms and looking towards his apprentice with a neutral expression. "Though, we ran into some...complications."

"What do you mean?" Luke inquired with narrowed eyes.

"Rosh was there," Jaden rasped out, clutching her left arm and averting her gaze from the Grandmaster's. She could feel his gaze boring into her, no matter where she turned to look. Biting her lip, she regretfully looked towards him, her peerless eyes meeting his blue orbs. "And he was working for the cult."

"So he's fallen to the Dark Side," He spoke, though not out of more surprise than Jaden expected. Grimly pursing his lips he closed his eyes and shook his head. "Its as I feared. The moment we lost contact with him and we searched I felt my connection with him blocked by something else, dark and cold. But now I should've known he has turned over. Do you know who's responsible?"

"Yeah, an old _friend_ of mine," Kyle sardonically quipped, gesturing with his shoulders as he looked straight at Luke with a displeased tilt of his jaw. "Tavion's the one behind this Disciples of Ragnos after all. She even refers to him as _master_."

"That's...troubling," The brunette Jedi admitted, trying to remain civil and serene despite the news he was receiving. Looking back up at the grizzled ex-agent, Luke stood upright and walked over to them, now at eye level with the pair with his gloved hands placed behind his back. "If the Sith are involved with Tavion, then that means the threat is far more grave than we have calculated. It also explains the means of siphoning the Force from places strongly attuned to events that have cemented their importance both in my past and the galaxy's. Still, it doesn't explain how she's gotten so many followers since she disappeared."

It was here that Kyle explained what he had personal experience from and what Jaden had theorized. The idea that followers in the cult were bestowed Force abilities through the staff on its own could only mean that the scepter was capable of that kind of power without absorbing energy from places across the cosmos. Which only further led to the fact that this Sith artifact was meant for a different purpose and had the capability of feats far beyond the ordinary means of Jedi, Dark or no.

"That makes sense, given the evidence we've acquired," Luke nodded with a grim look of acknowledgement. "What about the scepter? Did you get a better look at it?"

"Yeah, it definitely had the markings of a Sith. I bet it once belonged to Ragnos, hence why Tavion thinks of him as her master," Kyle admitted with dry certainty. "I'll see what I can dig up on it so we can determine that its uses are and what her plans might be for it. With luck -or the Force- we might be able to catch them before they finish whatever it is they're up to."

"Agreed," Master Skywalker nodded with affirmation to this plan. Without skipping as much of a beat, Luke gestured to Jaden -surprising her- while giving her a once over. "I take it the absence of your lightsaber means you'll need to construct a new one, Jaden?"

"Yes," She answered forthright. "I don't know if it was the best plan, at the time, but we were caught off guard and she had the staff. I didn't think we had the ability to win, even if Kyle or I could defeat her on our own. Not to mention there was Rosh-"

"You don't need to defend yourself," Luke smiled, raising his hand up to placate her and then extending a hand out in invitation. "In fact, I think you performed exceptionally well. Is it true that, despite Kyle arriving later, you managed to best not only Rosh but Tavion's two Dark Jedi followers?"

"I try not to keep count, but there was quite a few cultists and stormtroopers in the castle as well," Jaden weakly smirked, rubbing her neck in afterthought of that. "Way too many for my liking."

"Yet, you seemed to have done exceptionally well. To the point, I want you to take a more active role in the Academy."

"Meaning?" She said while blinking in confusion.

"Jaden, not only have you proven yourself capable by defeating three Dark Jedi, but you managed to keep your cool and persist without the assistance of your master. Because of your bravery and skill demonstrated, I feel you are ready to join our ranks as a Jedi Knight."

Overwhelmed.

That's how Jaden felt in being granted this reward. A privilege to stand beside the others and be on equal grounds of the masters of the New Jedi Order in all but their council convened authority. She had no idea that in the past couple of months she had spent things would change so quickly. Before, she was lucky just to live another day without some accident befalling her or finding her next meal ticket in the Under City. But now, she was a Jedi Knight, a protector of the people, a guardian of civilization and defender of the innocent.

" _Aren't you excited?! We're going to become Jedi!_ "

Her memory flared up, making her wide eyes halt in its feeling of pride as guilt overcame her.

" _How does it feel, Jaden?! You aren't so proud now, aren't you?!_ "

"Thank you, Master Skywalker," She bowed her head, acting reverant to disguise the weight of this burden she knew she'd have to hold from this point onward. Adding with a sense of sincerity, she looked between Kyle and Luke, once more insisting. "Thank you both. I'll try not to let you down."

Smiling, Luke gave a wordless nod and then excused himself ahead of the pair.

Turning to join him, Kyle's voice caught her in mid-step, holding her in place due to the meaning of his words.

"Jaden, back there, when the fighting was over I could feel the anger still seething inside of you," He paused, allowing her to grasp the seriousness of what he spoke of. "You may be a Jedi Knight now, but you aren't immune to temptations. Be aware that the Dark Side is always waiting for an opportunity to enslave you to its whim. It's something I've wrestled with, like I said, so I know where you're coming from. Just make sure you don't feed that anger, less it consume you whole; like it did with Rosh."

"I'll...keep your words in mind," Jaden hitched out, looking over her shoulder with a mirthful smirk of her own on her lips. "I'll try not to fail you."

"I know, kid," Kyle nodded with a grin, walking up and placing a hand on her shoulder, winking at her. "Next time I'm around, come talk to me and catch up. We'll undoubtedly got stories to share by that point."

Nodding in return, the two walked out of the hall and went their separate ways.

Jaden Korr knew, from this point forward, the real fight was just beginning for her.

* * *

A/N: A little bit of a callback to prior continuity of all the Jedi Knight related games. From Dark Forces II to the Mysteries of the Sith Expansion pack, and even the Jedi Knight: Exile. These are fun tidbits I like having it told from the perspective of Kyle, and having Jaden get the full scope of her master's trials and tribulations gives real weight to Tavion's return. His past has yet once again came to haunt him, just like it did with Jerec and Desann from before. This poor man can't catch a break. Now that Jaden's conflict has been put on pause, she has to fashion herself a new lightsaber! All the while, she feels like the voice calling to her from the ruins has some mysterious hold over her. As to what that could mean, who can say?

Find out on the next Chapter!


	19. Chapter 19 - A New Master

Busy.

That's all the platinum haired woman could do to take her mind off the events that transpired on Vjun. Due to the constant use of students to help cover as much ground against the cult's widespread attacks and presence, along with Remnant behavior that included the mercenaries they've enlisted as additional arms, she hadn't seen much of her peers as of recently.

Just as Luke said, she was expected to be more active in the role of the Academy and that meant when she wasn't trying to fashion herself a new lightsaber to replace the old one, she was sent on missions. They varied from halting an attempted assassination on a governing official who refused to take bribes to house cult ships to following up leads on more information involving Tavion or possible whereabouts that Rosh may be hiding.

Jaden tried to center herself when she returned to her room between missions. Every time she'd try to form the basis of the saber's chassis, she'd find an odd mistake she made or an incorrectly placed few wires. It brought incessant frustration that she couldn't craft like she normally could.

The weight of responsibility gnawed at her, too. Luke and Kyle needed all the help they could. Now that she was a Jedi Knight, she couldn't afford to have delays. She made due with Republic ordinance and a vibroblade to replace the weapon she was still in the process of fixing. Using a solid blade made her fight on relying on less deflection and more on evasion, forcing her to battle more aggressively or take cover more often. It was upsetting just how little she could use her full skill set, especially when there was so much in the realm of features within her first weapon.

Then, one night, she felt compelled to go back to the place where she trained normally. Taking a shuttle wasn't a problem as most of the students were actively using Z-95 Headhunters to take them on missions requiring guile as much as firepower. She'd feel her stomach churn with uncertainty, her hands vibrating against the transport's steering wheel to control its trajectory. Having practiced piloting as much as she could between when the Auto-Pilot took over, she now had a more basic grasp of the concept to help ensure she could take care of her own transportation.

With the light of Yavin IV beginning to set, she landed near a clearing where she normally landed and parked it accordingly. Taking her vibroblade out from the sheathe on her hip, the weapon hummed with a visible current of light and crackled. It was a crude imitation of the elegant craft of the Jedi, and was often what was referred to as a 'training saber' by neophytes of the academy.

When the last glint of light began to vanish, she set foot into the ruins, passing through the obstacle course with nothing but the light of her drawn weapon to guide her. The squawking and hissing of proximate fauna filled her ears, the smell of the damp jungle filling her nostrils while the flow of the Force had become rife with activity. Passing through the obstacle course's weaving ornate statues, inscriptions and jungle-overgrown structures, she found the place where she had last seen it with her own eyes.

Seeing nothing come around, she wondered if it was truly here at all?

"Well, I might as well wait," She muttered to herself, sheathing the weapon and adopting a meditative stance. Though it didn't calm the disquiet of her soul as of the recent week, it was better than doing nothing. Perhaps she could connect to the Force and suss out precisely where this entity is or where it was hiding if she couldn't find it.

The hours passed and Jaden lost track of time passing her by. The distant red gas giant began to rise up, clouds uncovered to reveal traces of planetary rays coloring the abandoned ruins along with the sole visitor. She wore nothing but a sleeveless tank-top with a black bra visible beneath the sweat that she accumulated by basking in the natural heat she basked in. With black pants stained of earthy soot, with similar textured boots resting about, the only other thing she took was her standard issue DL-44 pistol.

As she drifted through a blissful sense of monotony of awaiting this thing's arrival, she felt a slight chill in the air. The prickling feeling that she had gotten from the last time prodded her memory and her eyes fluttered open.

" _ **I was wondering when you'd come back to me,**_ " A voice echoed in the air, though it came from everywhere as much as it did nowhere. The jungle was nowhere to be seen, only an endless pool of blackness with a figure that took up the shrouded shape of a man. Standing apart from her, she could make out the faintest glimpse of his features. Black hair was knotted into a ponytail, one end resting over an armored shoulder of matching ribbed plating, fastened over a regal robe of deep red burgundy; a brass medallion wrapped over his right breast's location that held iconography that matched to that of the ruins she had seen repeated. Metal boots of ancient make had black silk pants fastened into them, with a pair of armored gloves that etched of similar important insignia she had seen thanks to those trips she made with her Miralukan friend, Cale V'eel.

Shadows obscured his face but she could feel as much as see the burning coals for eyes that had long since obscured its original color. A single mark branded on his forehead, indicative of a scarab with carved rings on its thorax. She didn't know the importance of this particular marking as she hadn't seen it anywhere during her research with Cale but she felt like she should. Still, the person's presence was wreathed in a cold, burning sensation that emanated all around her.

"Who are you?" Jaden inquired, her silver eyes now defiantly staring back at him while remaining cross-legged and seated in this illusion space she deemed the Force had created. "And why are you contacting me?"

" ** _I've been known by many names, young one,_** " The specter replied, his eyes staring into hers and leaving an impression like a cold vice was slowly cinching around her neck. It was getting hard to breathe but she remained focused and attempted to resist the sensation; more as she did, the feeling of daggers scraping along her nerves across her whole being became more prevalent with each passing second. " ** _But you may call me, Exar Kun. As for why I contacted you? Well...consider my interest piqued._** "

"Okay," She mulled out, cautiously narrowing her eyes, realizing this being was that of the Dark Side. "Why?"

" _ **Let's just say, this world used to be mine,**_ " The shroud explained, a smile spread across his shadowy face as he used phantom hands to gesticulate his words, far more eloquently than his apparition did in the past. " _ **And before me, it was owned by another by the name of**_ **Naga Sadow** _ **. And he came from the one you are seeking to thwart his ultimate return:**_ **Marka Ragnos** _ **.**_ "

"You know of Ragnos?!" Jaden immediately jolted, standing upright with a look of surprise as much as anxiousness. "Tell me, do you know where Tavion is? Or Rosh? Or what the Disciples of Ragnos are planning?"

" _ **First things first,**_ " The silhouette raised a finger, burning eyes still holding her captivation on a conscious level, even more-so now that her mind was open to the specter's words. " **Jaden Korr** _ **, it seems your spirit has been disturbed ever since you opened yourself up to your own power. I thought you would have been liberated to feel such strength, but you are now full of regret. You must correct this, less you become unbalanced and are unable to grow more powerful; how else would you defeat someone who holds a relic of**_ **Ragnos in their grasp?** "

"That's another thing?" She insisted, fists balling shakily at her sides while steeling a glare back at the specter standing apart from him. "How do you know my name?"

" _ **I know a great many things,**_ **Jaden Korr,** " He insisted with a sly curl of his ethereal lips. " _ **I'll answer the ones that burn in your soul, the more pressing issues contending against your Jedi Order, and most importantly, grant your power that you desperately crave. All I ask in return, is for you to make me your master and-**_ "

"I refuse."

It was a for a moment that Jaden felt her whole body freeze in place. The spectral image of a long dead man stared her down with an intense fury of being denied, the feeling of daggers felt like they were injecting into her flesh. Flashes of phantom pain waved over her from the soles of her feet to the top of her head. Her throat let out a strangled gasp and tears welled up in her eyes as she could barely hold onto her stance while locking eyes with this effigy of someone once living but now a wraith of immeasurable presence.

Grinding her teeth together, Jaden summoned what strength she could and brought it up to the surface, pushing past the icy grip held over herself. It was just enough to move and dampen the agony of whatever spell was put over her. Breathing heavily, her body shook in place and the glaring eyes narrowed, the strain of his power lessening over her on his own accord.

" _ **You have a lot of gall to not even let me issue my payment for granting you knowledge and power,**_ **Jaden Korr,** " It sneered with pits of red for eyes still looking at her. " _ **Does hospitality not even exist in this era?**_ "

"I had a feeling you didn't have my best intentions in mind, even back when I heard you tell me to rely on no one but myself. But this cements it," Jaden snarled back, her silver eyes boring into the specter's indignantly. "You're just an opportunistic scum, aren't you?"

" _ **I have done nothing but relay advice to you. Have I once been dishonest? Were my words not enough of a prompt to safeguard your own life and earn you victory?**_ "

His words etched painfully into the realms of sensibility.

She knew that this being was a product of the Dark Side. Something that dwelled so ominously and unnaturally in the Force that could inflict pain simply by staring at you, and gave off such an impression it had to be evil. Yet, he had only done so when she was being blunt and not at all receptive to it, despite she being the one to seek it out. Had she come all this way just to fight against an entity that was offering help?

"You're...right," She felt her voice speak, before her mind had been fully made up. With less strain on her own body, she bowed her head in as much reverence as she could to the spectral cauldron of Dark Side energy that projected itself to her. "I am sorry for interjecting so hastily. Please, continue."

" _ **Apology accepted,**_ **Jaden Korr,** " The specter replied, it showing a pleased expression across its shadowy visage. " _ **To the matter at hand, you wish to possess knowledge of this cult? I know not of Ragnos worshipers that you face, but I have seen glimpses of their interference. Their echoes are widely spread across the galaxy, enough that I can make out their impressions. The pair you faced on the dead world, scarred by the Force, was one part ally and one part enemy; they wield the relic of**_ **Ragnos** _ **, one of which its design I recognize as being a**_ **Siphon Stave.** "

"Siphon Stave?" Jaden repeated with slow, measured blinks.

" _ **Yes. It's a tool used by ancient Sith sorcerers, to cultivate the power of the Force and unleash it upon their enemies or allies in whatever manner they wish of it.**_ **Marka Ragnos** _ **had such a tool but he had never used it when I inherited his will. Though I suspect, since**_ **Ragnos** _ **was the mightiest of our predecessors, it was capable of all sorts of abilities more unnatural than what his peers were capable of.**_ "

"Like what?" She inquired.

" _ **Oh, anything. Twisting the body to be disproportionately more powerful. Altering the climate and weather of a given hemisphere. Even mangling machinery of war and bringing down orbiting satellites with a thought. There is a limitless application for such artifacts of a bygone era of Sith mastery over the Force; even capable of manipulating life itself,**_ " The specter added, a depraved smile deepening as it saw Jaden's face pale at an epiphany she suddenly obtained.

"Is it...possible, to bring back the dead with such a tool?" The peerless haired woman broached with a hint of fear lying behind her silver eyes.

" _ **More than possible, I've seen it transpire before my eyes,**_ " It boasted with a haunting laugh that vibrated the air of the light-less space surrounding them. " _ **In fact, my mere presence here means I have defied death itself. I had based the ritual after teachings I followed after**_ **Ragnos** _ **myself. It is inevitable that they acquire the necessary power to bring back the spirit of someone long dead, even as strong as**_ **Marka Ragnos** _ **. Yes, I am certain that this woman you are aiming to destroy is after just that.**_ "

"If someone as powerful as a Sith Lord is brought back to life...then...it'd be-"

"A true calamity in the making for your society, I'm sure," It drawled out with a mirthful sense of humor.

"So, at least you've been honest to your word, for the moment," Jaden cautiously admitted, her gaze relenting a bit after what she had been told. "You mentioned offering me strength. How would you go about and do that?"

Smirking, the silhouette produced something within the palm of its gloved hand. A glistening jewel, resonating with an ominous thrum that was colored in a fantastic azure deeper than any ocean of lush sky she'd ever behold. The gem lifted itself off its hand and then levitate over to her, hovering before her gaze. Without thinking much of it, she reached out and let it fall into her palm; almost dropping it, due to how icy cold it felt to the touch.

" _ **Long ago, that was the crystal housed within my lightsaber. I'm sure you will find better use of it in hands that are more flesh and blood than mine,**_ " The specter spoke in a derisive tone of assurance. " _ **Place that within the heart of your new weapon, and it will not fail. That I can promise you.**_ "

"Okay," She bit her lip, feeling a hint of wrongness in accepting a crystal as beautiful as this that felt so cold. It didn't possess the warmth that she was accustomed to the jewel that powered her first weapon. Still, it was something that gave her an odd sense of comfort to possess; the training droid's own crystal and the one the cultist's mass-produced red crystals possessed didn't have any significant presence that she could feel that'd be a proper substitute.

At least in this way, it'd leave an impression upon her that she could grow used to, for better or worse.

" _ **Once you finish crafting your weapon, return here to me in the dead of night,**_ " The Dark Side apparition commanded, its smile thinned and eyes narrowing at her. " _ **From there, I'll begin to train you in the ways of self-reliance and independent strength. Through this you will truly master the old ways of the Force that no modern Jedi nor acolyte of the Sith can grant you.**_ "

"And if I don't return?" Jaden questioned with an arched brow of curiosity.

Laughing in a mocking manner, the spectral figure gestured towards her with a knowing glint in its red eyes, " _ **You wouldn't have come here in the first place, had you not sought out my counsel and strength. You will come,**_ **Jaden Korr** _ **. It is in your nature to pursue that which you do not understand and obtain it. You are a covetous creature that wishes to possess and hold things beyond your realm of understanding. But you will stumble in the dark no longer; I shall light the way and show you the true path to power and enlightenment!**_ "

And then, Jaden's eyes opened.

She was once again, in the middle of the training grounds of the temple. She was soaked in sweat though she didn't feel warm but distinctly cold. There was not a hint of the fog that appeared the first time the specter's presence had drifted across her. The platinum haired woman wondered if she had imagined the whole thing or if it was a dream of some kind?

Standing up from her cross-legged form, she'd find something distinctly chilled to the touch resting in her open right hand. Blinking, she'd look down and marvel at the jagged crystal that she knew she was given by the ghost that had visited her. Some aspect of that meeting was tangentially real, and this was physical proof of it.

Folding her hand over it in a clenched fist, she closed her eyes tight and reopened them to stare up at the starry night sky.

She knew this was a dangerous path she was going to tread, but for now, she couldn't do more than get cursory advice from the overtaxed Luke or the busied Kyle. Acquiring more power was necessary if she was to thoroughly defeat her adversaries. Sharing this information, she knew, would be difficult so she decided to bide her time and await the opportunity to reveal what she had learned. This Exar Kun may be the key to helping defeat this Marka Ragnos, especially if Tavion succeeds in her aim to bring back the ancient Sith Lord.

" _It's like Kyle said. There is nothing wrong with using Dark or Light Side powers. My use through intent is what really matters,_ " She determined silently to herself. " _Now, to simply make use of this crystal and finally finish my lightsaber. Who knows when my first_ real _mission is going to be next?_ "

* * *

Bringing the crystal back, she went to work with a clear head and a calmer spirit. The shell she had decidedly used involved the barrel of the rocket launcher she picked up back on Vjun. It had came to mind that she didn't have much in the way of versatility, now that she lacked the components for the multi-phase lens that she could alter its length and width at a flick of a switch. Now that she had come to understand and learn more forms in Jedi swordplay, she went with something that she felt was a good direction.

A smooth platinum shell was used for the base, the overall chassis of the structure. Then she grounded the center down and wrapped with a handle leather that she had picked up from the speed bike she 'acquired' in the botched mission awhile back. It created a smooth haft, the handle being easy to hold onto without possibly slipping if her hands became moist for whatever reason. The emitters she fished around for scavenged materials, decidedly using the same products that were leftover from the droid's own dual-phase arm-saber. Soldered together, she was satisfied with its make-up, and made use of the remaining cortosis material she had to imbue it around a pair of cone-shaped guards around the end of the handle for each half, giving her a bit more of a brace to protect her hands in case the worst would come to pass. Adding the buckling so it'd be easily attached and messing with the circuitry to be processed in multiple manners, she finished her weapon and raised it up in her room with triumph in her eyes.

"It took me all night, but I think I got this to work," She spoke to herself, grinning with satisfaction at her weapon. Igniting the first saber, she saw it hiss to life and hum with a resonating beauty of crystalline blue. Painting the room in its glow, she waved it around, hearing its hiss turn into a purr as she gave a few experimental swings and jabs. Turning on the other blade, she spun it around, feeling a natural momentum that carried her across her personal quarters, weaving arcing windmills of blue streaks across the air.

Only to accidentally cut part of her 'Peace Dome' erected on her bed and set it aflame.

"OH HOLO-DUST!" She exclaimed, disengaging her weapon and immediately moving to the extinguisher to douse the flame in heat retardant mist. As she put out the fire, she heard a bleep come from her workbench. Rolling her eyes, she approached it with a jog and put her hands over the console: with the image of a golden plate protocol droid showing on the screen.

"Um? Hello?" The platinum haired teenager inquired with a speculative stare.

"Hello, Jaden Korr," The droid monotoned in a droll but plain way. "I am the protocol droid acting as mediator for mission control for the Jedi Academy and those pertaining to the New Jedi Order. While your master, Kyle Katarn, and Grandmaster Skywalker is away, I'll be handling your missions from this point onward."

"Okay," The peerless eyed woman replied, chewing the inside of her mouth with a knowing look across her face. "What do you have for me?"

"A mission has come up that required immediate investigation," He informed, his image shrinking and moving to the right corner while the description of a bluish world popped up with still-pictures of the vista involved. They oscillated between ancient statues of Jedi long since in the past and sheer cliff faces angled within the quagmire of rock that this destination was located. "There have been Cult sightings by the locals of Chandrila, specifically based around the tomb of a Jedi Knight buried there. The Chandrilans contacted us only minutes ago through the extranet, meaning we have little time to respond if the call is accurate."

"Like I haven't heard that before," She snorted with a roll of her eyes.

"Do make haste and use discretion. It is likely they may show up in great number."

"Copy that," She drawled out, exiting the transmission and began suiting herself up. With a sleeveless black jacket over long-sleeved white shirt with blue outlines, her pants of a similar hue with a kama skirt strapped around her waist for additional flare and micro-weaving protection she then marched up with her new weapon in hand strapped to her waist. She wasn't used to the object having such heft and weight, but she knew she'd deal with it. Grasping some armaments and explosives from the locker, she'd finally haul herself onto her own Headhunter craft and take off.

Pulling out of the hangar, she'd throttle herself out of the atmosphere of Yavin IV and punch in the coordinates. She knew this may be the first real mission she'd undertake in over a week. With her newly arranged partnership with this alleged 'Exar Kun' ghost and her weapon formed, she had a feeling this was a first step in improving herself.

" _I won't let Kyle and Skywalker down,_ " She determined, the streak of stars pulling across her ship's canopy, vanishing through the tunnel of hyperspace in an instant that followed. " _I'll prove to them that I will be deserving of being called a Jedi Knight!_ "

* * *

 **A/N** : Another shorter chapter, though with massive implications. Yes, in this variant of the game canon, Exar Kun is *still* around and is plotting something thanks to the business involving the one who named him successor eons ago. With knowledge of Marka Ragnos and armed with powers to techniques that she will undoubtedly find useful, the new Dark Side specter has tempted Jaden into accepting his offer in her most wavering moments. What does he want from Jaden, and what lengths will she go to obtain power to vanquish her enemies?

Find out, in the next chapter of Temptations!


End file.
